It struck me afresh today how sometimes the most taken-for-granted things, like these broken sand dollars, hold such exquisite beauty when we ‘learn how to see’.  I never did find a whole sand dollar.  Before this trip I wasn’t sure it was legal to pick them up (our research leads us to believe it is, in the state of Oregon).  So I bought some whole sand dollars at a junk shop for $5 to get that out my system before we even went.  But these broken beautiful bits, so freshly washed up on the beach share currently captivate me more.  They really are bones, yes?  The exoskeletons of beetles and roaches leave us shivering but these starry, bony darlings are so accessible.  Like the inside of an apple, only they wear their stars proudly on the outside.  Imagine the skill it would take to etch this pattern by hand. And look at the little sections of calcification, almost like crocodile skin, showing light in the middle and dark around the edges.  


It tickles me that for this image, my camera tried to choose the ‘mountain scenery’ setting.  Looking inside the sand dollar reminds me of being in another world…or perhaps Mammoth Cave?


                              Inside bottom of the sand dollar.  Look at all those bony striations.

 

Bottom Dollar.

            I liked how these pieces of rounded driftwood mimic rocks!   How very stylish and modern of you, ocean!
Gathered rocks back at our rental.