Agate Hunting

This time of year, as opening day of dove season approaches, the High family begin making their plans for the annual family gathering and hunt.  But this year I've discovered a new passion (not that dove hunting was ever an old passion in my book).....agate hunting.
You don't need your gun safety course certificate and you don't have to stop at Walmart to stock up on ammo for an agate hunt.  Just grab a grocery bag and your windbreaker (cause it's always windy on the Oregon coast) and head to the beach. 

Oregon's coastline is blessed with agates just waiting to be discovered.   Any season is agate season but for those willing to be patient, low tide is when the water slides back and treasures are revealed. 

Bullards Beach at Bandon, Oregon is the site of my first agate hunt. 

The beach buffers one side of the Coquille Light House built on the jetty where the Coquille River empties into the Pacific.

An agate is a "rock".  More specifically it is a variety of quartz, mainly chalcedony that is characterized by its fine grain and bright color. They are usually associated with volcanic rock (of which there is an abundance in this area of Oregon). 
Rocks are very plentiful on these beaches , more so than shells and the colors and patterns embedded in their hard surfaces are beautiful.  Now it remains to be seen whether or not I've discovered any agates in my rock collecting adventures. (I've not yet sprung for the handy dandy guide to Oregon gems).  I do know that the colors I see when the wave retreats from the beach bring me joy, consequently I've come home with bags of rocks to fill the bowl on the coffee table. 

When I look at each of these rocks and hold them in my hand looking at their unique pattern of color and design and feeling their smooth surfaces, I am reminded that their beauty has been uncovered because of time spent being tumbled by surf and smoothed by sand. What a life lesson there is in that.