“The constant wonder of natural things is that the closer you look, the more wonderful details emerge” – Ed Lehming

In my previous post I mentioned the unique character of the sand at Cambria’s Moonstone Beach and the fact that many people sat on the beach just sifting through the pebbles and setting “treasures” aside.

It turns out, that several California beaches have this name. Primarily due to a form of feldspar among the beach pebbles which is semi transparent and resembles what many considered moon stone. It was highly sought after as a semi precious stone.

The image above is a quick image I made of a handful of the beach pebbles. It’s quite a profile of local minerals: quite a bit of jasper, agate, and also quartzite. I can see why this beach was so popular with collectors of stones and that a lot of the current day collectors gravitated towards these particular varieties. The jasper, polished to a fine lustre, reminded me of the cacao beans we saw in Mexico, or red kidney beans. There was such a variety of shapes and sizes. The other thing that stood out was just how finely polished they were. Even dry, they still held their sheen.

I, of course, followed suit, and sat among the pebbles looking for specimens that I fancied and would take home with me as a souvenir of this wonderful place. It was such a simple act, just sitting there, focused on the pebbles and listening to the pounding surf. It was quite magical and evoked childhood memories of taking joy in a simple acts.

iPhone 14 Pro Max back triple camera 13 mm
1/2212 sec, f/2.2, ISO 50