Your Christmas Card from the Coast...A Christmas Jade of Green

In Carmel town the shop windows have little nests of abalone shells and jewelry made of jade found on beaches south of  Big Sur.

 

These five shells are no bigger than the palm of your hand. 

 The tiniest one is only 1.5 inches long.

We had never been to Jade Cove before and so we took a ride down the coast.  It's amazing that we made the sixty mile trip, because, of course, while we were still north of Point Sur,  I wanted

                     to stop 

 and take in the view

  around every bend.  

And we had to stop when, way far down below us, I saw a lone fox on the shore.

And then there was the bakery stop...

with pretty Protea blooming on the path...how is that for joyous color?

Or are you more into blues...with verdant green paths that beg for a beautiful horse so surefooted that the fact that you don't know how to ride in no way inhibits the vision?

 But we must keep going, look how that sun is dropping near the horizon. 

 It sets early these winter days and 

  we are about to be stopped by a red light controlling traffic to one lane at a time. 

 This is the site of a covered bridge being built  near Limekiln State Park along side a sheer cliff
 of frequently tumbling rocks. The link here is to photos taken by a Big Sur resident who was invited up into the crane on this coastal cliff job site. It was passed along to me by Katie at Nature ID, see her comment below and check out her page, she is always teaching me something.

                      And then we arrive, we are there, or  should  I say we are 150 vertical feet above "there."

            The trail down to Jade Cove  is steep. Wearing good shoes is a must...

unless you are a goat.

I did slip in the rocks once...one foot got wet...all of me was scared and then relieved and very grateful.

                                                       Of course the semi-precious jade is elusive and picked over and all the rocks are a wonder and  enter into the fully precious realm  in my book.

                                         We weren't alone picking through the rocks and divers were in the water.
A search of Jade Cove on the internet will offer many warnings and provisos and advice... including one visitor's suggestions that if you really want some Big Sur Jade perhaps you should  just buy some jade from a happy hippie jade person in Big Sur.

                                                 Climbing back up to beat the setting sun we stop

to watch whales spouting and see more tail than I captured on film pixels.

But the sun does keep right on doing what it set out this morning to do and continues its course...and yes we saw a green flash.  You may think we just had green on the brain...but we did see a brilliant

Christmas  shade of green!

                                            The regulations allow you to take what you can gather non- mechanically

 and carry by hand. 

We brought home a few pebbles...

This is our best piece of jade.
There are stories about the hefty gems hauled out of here in days of old...
you know 32 pounds of solid jade and such.
This stone is 1.25 inches across.  And we got just what we were after; a day of sun and birds and light on the water.

Wishing you joyous holiday times...

Jeannette