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Collecting Pebbles
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We celebrate a nostalgic country pastime
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By Beth Powning; Photography by Donna Griffith, Janis Nicolay
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Pebble beach. The words evoke the special kind of tranquility and solitude common to Canada's coasts. A secluded, cliff-rung cove in B.C.'s Gulf Islands, where orcas rub up against the steep shore; or a strand littered with driftwood, viewed from the cedar-scented waters of a Tofino hot tub. Forillon National Park, on the Gaspé; or Grand Manan Island, where your sneakers crunching the slippery pebbles are the only human sound, a metronome as timeless as the long-drawn boom of a foghorn.
Pebble beaches, steeper and narrower than sand beaches, are often remote, tucked into wild coves. Formed by a higher energy wave environment, or by the erosion of ancient cliffs, they don't invite jogging, can't be used for building sandcastles, aren't usually good places to swim. Instead, they're the haunts of moose, ravens, gulls. On their high-tide lines, drift-wood marks the transition from rock to wildflower. Tide pools gleam, a world of anemones, starfish and whelks. You're lulled into a peaceful pursuit; pebble-gathering. It's a slow, contemplative stoop and search.
Pebbles are as different from one another as snowflakes. They fit in the cup of a hand, nestle in pockets. When wet, they gleam like jewels. They're red-streaked, green-flecked, obsidian or ivory; quartz, mica or limestone. You might collect only white ones, a symbol of hope, new starts. Or perhaps green ones to celebrate a new love. Or certain shapes: heart, round, oblong. You rub them on your cheek, wet them in your mouth. You listen to the searing, wild cries of gannets. You watch the small burst of water as, wing-tucked, they dive. The rhythmic boom of surf both fills and empties your mind.
You rummage, once home. Old Mason jars. Or that round glass bowl. Filled with pebbles, they sit by a window, gleaming in the sunshine. Or on the hearth, where they'll be ruddied in firelight. Every so often, you pour water on them. And once again, their colours bloom, strong and vibrant as memory.
If you go pebble hunting
Drummond Park, in B.C.'s Gulf Islands, boasts a long shoreline. Visit www.hellobc.com to find similar sites in the province.
Gaspé's Forillon National Park is enhanced by its rocky shore, great for an afternoon pebble quest. Visit the Parks Canada website for information.
Amateur geologists flock to New Brunswick's Grand Manan Island - take
a picnic and spend the day happily hunting. Check out www.grandmanannb.com for details and directions.
Beth Powning is the author of Edge Seasons, The Hatbox Letters and Shadow Child, available from Vintage Canada.
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