weekend treasures

when i was little my parents had this great piece of land (and eventually a cabin) on treasure island. the magic in the name alone, made it an easy draw for them to entice us kids to escape each weekend to the hideaway nestled in the Puget sound. once there you couldn't help but lose yourself in the beauty and simplicity of it. the days went by so quickly. time was spent walking up and down the rocky shore, lifting each rock to explore the world of creatures underneath, watching the tide come in for swimming and jumping off the 20-30 foot bridge, depending on the tide (not an easy feat for a young girl enticed by her much older brothers!) and then waiting for it to go back out for more beach combing to begin.

though there was much to do and (nothing to do), one of my favorite ways to pass time was to collect sand-dollars. i'd gather as many as my 7-year old hands could carry, wash them and then line them up to dry in the sun. then i'd paint them. this would sometimes fill hours of my time. once painted they became gifts for my parents (so lucky) or gifts for the land around our place. i'd arrange them along the walkway to the beach. line our deck railing with them and so on. i'd forgotten how great this ritual was. i was happily reminded this past weekend as i spent the afternoon painting rocks with the little dude and his pal-- could there be a better way to spend a sunny sunday afternoon? these special rocks, like the sand dollars, will find their place at the base of trees, on the edge of the garden (or given lack of a garden, on our mantel).

the magic memories of treasure island and days gone by have resurfaced and in turn, will now create new memories of days to come.