A Memoriam to Vernon Rush March 10, 2006 - The ultimate beachcomber

Well I hate to do this but I woke up to snow on the ground in Florence this morning. I wasn't going to be able to leave until around 5:30pm tonight, and I am not a snow & Ice driver.

I somehow get the feeling that this wild March storm is Vern's way of telling us not to make a fuss over him. We've had churning burning surf for 2 days now, last night Bob and I came home just before dark and there were two giant plastic floats coming in on the tide. We looked at each other and said yep lets go get them, we chased them half way to Driftwood Shores, but we got'em. So this morning in the middle of writing this email I saw another big plastic float wash up and I though what would honor Vern's memory more than going beach combing. So out I went, I picked up two more big plastic floats, some small ones and a great piece of "Leaverite". I'm sure if you've been beach combing with Vern you all know what Leaverite is. I also had to run up a dune with my treasures, as a large sneaker wave came in and the whole beach disappeared. " I could hear Vern laughing"

Sometime in the fall of 1986 Vern and I went beachcombing in Brookings. It was the middle of sport fishing season on the river and we weren't finding much of anything, but we did recover 8 individual full cans of beer that had washed down the river and up on the beach. Which we took home and drank :-)

Vern & Tommie were here in Florence when I found my first glass float, and Vern was as excited as I was, helping me clean it off and telling me stories about each of the ones he had found over the years. I've since found 2 more, but the thrill is in the hunt, and it doesn't matter whether it's an Agate, a plastic float, a glass float or a piece of Leaverite. Vern taught me the fine art of beachcombing..

Thanks Vern!

Japanese Glass Float Find

I've been hunting for Floats since 1990. I found my first softball sized one in March/April of 1990. In January/February 97, I found a baseball sized one. In March 2002 I found my third baseball sized float in a tide pool of the blue jelly fish velella velella. Well around 5pm today, I was standing in my living room talking on the phone, looking out my windows, and I saw it...something round washed up on the beach, and it looked green. It was pouring rain sideways so hard the I couldn't see through my living room windows, so I ran out on the deck, and sure enough.. It was a japaneese glass float, about a block down the beach.

I told my friend there's a glass float on the beach I have to go now, and I grabbed my beach coat, and ear muffs and went out in to the pouring rain and 20mph wind, running all the way! I didn't see anyone on the beach, but there were certainly houses, and a hotel closer to it than I was. Sure enough I got down there, and it was a basket ball sized float. It's sitting outside on my deck at the moment as it's quite slimey.. But heck a float every 5 years I think I'm doing great.

We haven't seen any of the larger blue jelly fish yet, but the beach is covered with pea size ones, so this might be a year to find floats again!