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Glass Shore
Stepping down the steep, creaky wooden stairs, entombed in the soft but sturdy sand, I touch down on the small path of tough dirt and sharp grass, and notice as it begins to blend more into the fine, grainy sand, as we reach the shore of Lake Michigan. I move along, following the tracks printed four times from my mom, my brother, and two sisters.
As my siblings, mom, and I walk across the shallow line dividing the land from the water, looking into the distance gives a hint as to how vast the water is. Instead of seeing land at the other end, there is only thick fog far across the water.
Walking through the washed-up rocks and pushing the cold water over our feet, we begin looking for sea glass. Whether it is from litter or from a sunken ship, all pieces have a story that could span hundreds of years. Finding the pieces is finding a treasure, even if it doesn’t hold value in the shape of money.
Sifting through the tiny rocks, an outlier emerges from the sands. A small piece of blue glass that shines as it is raised from the ground and finally sees the beating sun again. Maybe this piece took the shape of a wine glass and was pulled down with a certain sunken ship, or maybe a bottle was simply smashed and kicked into the sewer. But no matter the case, the piece has a story, and that wild story from a simple piece of glass, now continues with us.
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I decided to work on this intergenerational project because I think that me and my mom have a good idea of what we both feel at the shores of Lake Michigan. We’ve both been to Lake Michigan and both have collected sea glass there.
The planning process had me deciding whether I wanted to have a story about a personal experience or just a story about nature in general (I chose personal), whether the format would be an essay or poem (I chose essay), why I want to talk about the topic (me and my mom have different feelings about the same experience), listing me and the people I’m working with (my mom) and our ages (16 and 43 respectively).
Finally, we also planned our roles creating the essay. We both ended up being writers and editors, although my mom was more of an editor than a writer while creating the essay, helping to include important and descriptive details.
My team created its final entry by working together to create an overall sense of when we were both on the beach, including some emotions or feelings my mom felt, I felt, and we both felt together. The story takes place in my perspective (Jordan) but the senses connect with both of us, and towards the end of the essay, my mom’s feelings bleed into the writing more, and get less specific to only me.
This project brought me and my mom in touch with nature because thinking about the different senses that were used and felt at the beach is a very unique experience. Walking the shore of a beach that is a small part of a very large lake and picking up sea glass as we go is very calming, especially when looking back and thinking about it again.