Sea glass is often admired for its symbolism of transformation and renewal, making it a popular metaphor for life’s journey. Quotes related to sea glass often explore themes of aging gracefully, finding beauty in the imperfections of life, and the power of the ocean to reshape and refine.
“Life’s little treasures are only visible to the ones who are open enough to see them.”
Sea glass generally symbolizes renewal, transformation, and healing. It’s a metaphor for life, representing how broken or discarded things can be transformed and become something beautiful and valuable. The ocean’s action in smoothing and rounding the glass over time is seen as a metaphor for weathering life’s challenges and emerging stronger.
I want to age like Sea Glass by Bernadette Noll
I want to age like sea glass I want to age like sea glass. Smoothed by tides, not broken. I want the currents of life to toss me around, shake me up and leave me feeling washed clean. I want my hard edges to soften as the years pass—made not weak but supple. I want to ride the waves, go with the flow, feel the impact of the surging tides rolling in and out.
When I am thrown against the shore and caught between the rocks and a hard place, I want to rest there until I can find the strength to do what is next. Not stuck—just waiting, pondering, feeling what it feels like to pause. And when I am ready, I will catch a wave and let it carry me along to the next place that I am supposed to be.
I want to be picked up on occasion by an unsuspected soul and carried along—just for the connection, just for the sake of appreciation and wonder. And with each encounter, new possibilities of collaboration are presented, and new ideas are born.
I want to age like sea glass so that when people see the old woman I’ll become, they’ll embrace all that I am. They’ll marvel at my exquisite nature, hold me gently in their hands and be awed by my well-earned patina. Neither flashy nor dull, just a perfect luster. And they’ll wonder, if just for a second, what it is exactly I am made of and how I got to this very here and now. And we’ll both feel lucky to be in that perfectly right place at that profoundly right time.
I want to age like sea glass. I want to enjoy the journey and let my preciousness be, not in spite of the impacts of life, but because of them.
[Humble,simple,simile – and my love for sea glass collection makes this poem hit home everytime I read it]
A lot of you despise me, And I don’t understand why. I am not ugly or deserving of your hate. I survive every day on the streets, That used to be fields and seas. There are no tasty seeds, Because you turned beaches into buildings. I eat what you throw on the ground, Because I have no choice. Water is harder and harder to find. Do you know what it takes to survive in a world that is not mine anymore? Please don’t scare me or hurt me, Just let me live – Live in your world that was once mine..
Words by Amey James of The Happy Pants Animal Sanctuary Charity
bekindtoallkinds 🩶
They are beautiful in my eyes and deserve to live in peace.
I enjoy hearing their sound and watch them fly and dive into the water.
Don’t consider them as vemin, they are fellow living beings just trying to survive in a hell of a world, same as the rest of us.
When you walk through the doors of Villa Louis, you step into the life of one of Wisconsin’s most historic families – The Dousmans. Located on the beautiful banks of the mighty Mississippi River, this National Historic Landmark offers a panorama of Wisconsin history, from the advent of the first fur traders, to the War of 1812, through the splendor of the Victorian era.
Over 2000 years ago, Indigenous peoples lived on the grounds we now attribute to Villa Louis. For centuries, Native Nations of the upper Mississippi gathered upon the island to trade among themselves until the fur trade brought French-speaking traders in contact with Indigenous tribesmen and women.
The trade also attracted free Black settlers to Prairie du Chien. Additionally, officers and agents of the United States brought enslaved men and women to the prairie, some of whom lived at Fort Crawford and other structures that once stood on land that is now part of Villa Louis State Historic Site. Research and restorations continue to fully expand the story of these early residents and events.
Early 1800s
The First Dousman house, “The Brick House on the Mound,” was built between 1843 and 1844, and later razed to build the mansion that exists today, in almost the identical space.
When Hercules Louis Dousman (1800 – 1868) passed away, a newspaper obituary at the time noted that a biography of the man— commencing with his arrival to the upper Mississippi region— would not fall far short of a history of Wisconsin and Minnesota, so involved was he with the region’s development. Through his various enterprises as a fur trader, lumberman, land speculator and frontier entrepreneur, Dousman would acquire a fortune.
In the mid-1840s, he and his family began developing an estate on the banks of the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien that would evolve into Villa Louis. Its vibrant hues and rich textures reflected the family’s rise to wealth and leisure living. Throughout its evolution, the property was always considered an elegant and stylish Victorian country home, and much attention was paid to the grounds surrounding the mansion and outbuildings.
1868
Upon Hercules Dousman’s death in 1868, the estate passed to his son, H. Louis Dousman, and his widow, Jane Dousman. In 1870 they contracted with Milwaukee architect E. Townsend Mix to build a new residence in the fashionable Italian Villa style. The old House on the Mound came down, though some parts were recycled into the new building.
The elder Mrs. Dousman lived there while son Louis tended to his family, business and social life in St. Louis. When Jane died in 1882, Louis chose to move back to Prairie du Chien and start a new business — a stock farm for Standard Bred trotting horses.
Mid 1880s
To prepare for his new life as a country gentleman, Louis and his wife, Nina Sturgis Dousman, initiated an extensive expansion and remodeling of the Prairie du Chien property in 1885. They built stables, barns, a race track and other buildings pertinent to the stock farm. They also enlarged and redecorated the house and the adjacent office. Dousman hired a Chicago-based designer from the famed William Morris Company of London. The result was a thorough reworking of the mansion, exemplifying the design principles of the British Arts and Crafts Movement.
Late 1880s
The remodeling of the estate and the launch of the stock farm business were barely completed when 37-year-old Louis suffered a fatal health crisis — believed to be a ruptured appendix. At the time of his death, his five children ranged in age from two to 10 years and his widow was just 33. Within a few months of the funeral, the horses were sold and a new and lasting name had settled on the estate — Villa Louis — in tribute to H. Louis Dousman.
Nina Sturgis Dousman remarried in 1888. The new couple relocated to New York City, but their’s proved to be a troubled union, ending in divorce in 1891. In the late summer of 1893, the Dousman family returned to the Villa Louis, where they remained until 1913.
1930s
In the 1930s, mindful of their family’s important place in Wisconsin history, Virginia Dousman Bigelow and Violet Dousman Young, granddaughters of fur trader Hercules Dousman, undertook a restoration of Villa Louis. The property was handed over to the city of Prairie du Chien for operation as a house museum in 1935.
1950s
A decade later the family renewed the offer — at a time when serious interest in local history was just beginning to emerge. This time the Society expressed enthusiasm. On January 1, 1950, the Society took title to the property and buildings, though court proceedings left the matter unresolved until April 1952, when Villa Louis opened to the public.
1990s
The Dousman heirs also donated a large collection of furnishings and accessories original to the house as well as thousands of letters, business records, photographs and other archival documents. The family’s original donation was subsequently enhanced by significant donations from their heirs and purchases from their heirs’ estates.
The extensive documentation provided by the Dousman heirs served as the basis for a documentary restoration of Villa Louis that began in 1994. With more than $2 million dollars provided by a mix of private- and public-sector funding sources, the restoration is now complete. Today the Villa Louis is the finest example of a British Arts and Crafts interior in a rural setting in the United States.
Go and enjoy learning more about this beautiful place of history!
Hiking is a bit like life: The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other again and again and again.
And if you allow yourself opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty every step of the way, not just at the summit.
“HIKING IS A WAY TO CLEANSE THE MIND AND ESCAPE THE NOISE OF EVERYDAY LIFE.”
Listen to the sound of the water rushing over stones to soothe your soul.
Look in wonder at the furry creatures you meet on your journey as well as the winged version.
Open your eyes and ears to the sounds of nature in all it’s glory!
Do you remember life before the internet?
Yes I do remember life before the internet.
I find that it was better back then in my opinion.
I think that people would enjoy more outdoor and nature if there was no internet.
Also there would be more interest in reading I would think. Would see more children playing outdoors.
Opinions vary but it is mine.
What are you good at?
I like to believe that I’m good at writing, I enjoy these blogs but I am also writng my first novel.
I pray that it could be good enough and people can enjoy when it is completed.
I’m trying to better myself at capturing images with my Nikon camera. Some samples shown below!
Maybe too many samples but I am proud of these.😊
I also try to be good at painting on canvas of what I enjoy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that you enjoy sampling my hobbies.
I tend to lose myself in them to combat reality in some ways. These are my ways to escape my thoughts and immerse myself in simple joys!
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
I used to believe that having it all meant having enough money to live without having to work which to me is unattainable.
Now I believe it to be having health and my wonderful family. Having a roof over my head and food to eat as well as enjoying the little things.
Having enough money not to work is just a dream but my family and the other things I listed is a reality.
I went on my first horseback ride of the year and how I have missed the freeing feeling I get when I do.
I ride with Wild 3L Ranch run by Lisa and I will not ride with anyone else as long as she’s available.
I’ve been with her for quite a few years now amd always satisfied and happy after each ride.
I trust her implicitly and her horses! She trains all of them and makes sure that they are safe and ready for people to ride.
She chooses which horse is appropriate for each rider based on experience. She also does trotting and cantering when most others only walk.
Cantering is the most exciting part of the ride for me since I feel as if I’m escaping all of my stress. Horseback riding has become my therapy since the very first ride I’ve done which was when I was 12 years old.
My anxiety and worries seem to just melt away when I am around these amazing animals, they are so gentle and share their spirit with you.
When I am on the back of a horse I can shut off my thoughts and connect with the horse.
If you have never ridden one of these beautiful souls-I recommend doing so! Make sure to turn off your mind and focus on you and the horse.
I’ve included some photos of the horses I have ridden🩷
