Castine Beachcombing

  So, on Sunday I had this great idea to drive up to Castine and walk the beach at low tide in search of doll parts. Yes, doll parts. For those of you who haven't heard of this before, it seems a ship, or ships, went down in Penobscot Bay freighted with porcelain dolls in the 1800's. If one looks carefully enough, little body parts can be found among the as glass, and worn down by the ocean like sea glass. Some of them can be really beautiful and the whole experience of picking up these tiny feet and hands off the beach is just so weird and hilarious and paranormal. 

  I had found some nice pieces on the Castine beach a few years ago, it was a rainy Sunday and I didn't have any work, and low tide was conveniently toward the end of the day, so I hopped in my truck and headed up north. The rain was coming down in intermittent showers and the temps were hovering right around 32, with wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Needless to say, conditions were not ideal, but I had a rain suit behind my seat and I figured I could tough it out. However, it really started to pour as I pulled into my parking spot beside the beach. On top of that, I started to cough. What was this? Why was I coughing? I sneezed repeatedly and my sinuses clammed up like I had just snorted a line of concrete dust. Is this a joke, I thought. Am I suddenly sick? Indeed, though I had felt perfectly fine all morning, I had somehow come down with the flu the moment I parked my truck. I looked at the rain through my windshield and groaned. There was no way I was going to turn around and drive all the way back home. I had driven over two hours and I was going to hunt that beach if it killed me. And hunt it I did, for about three hours. On top of my deteriorating health, I discovered to my dismay that I did not have my rain suit after all, and so I got brutally and rapidly soaked to the skin. 

  The beachcombing was good--the Castine beach can be a treasure trove of old pottery, sea glass, pipe stems, and of course, doll parts-- but I got the distinct impression that it seemed more hunted out than in past visits. There just seemed to be less stuff. That being said, I did find some nice pieces of pottery and china, a few doll parts (notably the ear), a chunk of old brick engraved with the letter 'D', and another pocket watch interior, or skeleton, as I like to call them. I have found a few of these round pocket watch pieces and plan on doing something interesting with them someday.

  By five o'clock the tide was at its lowest, but it was raining so hard and I was shivering so badly that I had to retreat with my pocketful of rubbish. I was a little disappointed on the way back to Camden, but once I got back and spread everything out, I realized it wasn't too bad of a trip. At least I found an ear. Like a scene out of "Blue Velvet", I held it up before me and shivered...