Most search for shell or agate.
I’ve trained my brain to pick out
reds and greens, the glimmery sheen
of jasper, to overlook other
valuable things: fossil and petrified wood,
occasional Cascade jade. But isn’t that the way
we all find what we’re looking for–
by ignoring things others want?

Dr. Larina Warnock is an educator who lives on the Oregon coast with her husband, three dogs, and a turtle older than she is.