THE THING ABOUT OREGON AGATES IS...

...they are really difficult to find.  I think that after decades of sifting, agate hunters have pretty much picked Oregon beaches clean of their famous agates.  But you can usually find reasonable specimens of Oregon Agate in gift shops!  OR, as one fellow hunter told me: layer up and visit the coast in December! (Picture coffee spewing from my nose!)

The de rigueur tool and hunting "stance."  

The family that sifts together, stays together -- three generations of agate hunters!

But this guy is either too old to bend over and get back up, has bionic eyes, or is simply happy moving the rocks to and fro.  Good looking tool; not a serious sifter!

Sitting down, lying down, bending over; rake, scrape, dig, pick and sift  -- Now *these* are serious agate seekers!

In the rock field, each little divot (or sitzmark, depending on your sport of choice) represents an agate mining claim someone has worked over.

At some point in my afternoon of searching, I abandoned my quest for agates and started looking for just plain interesting, pretty, or weird.  Eventually I did indeed strike a bonanza of jasper, chalcedony, chert, quartz, rhyolite and mystery pebbles (spritzed to bring out their color)...

...a coupla world-class worry stones (one for little problems, one for big problems!)...

and a perfect, five-splash (at least) skipper!

This is my plunder after two days of sifting and includes a few I found last year.  So what did I learn from agate mavens after two days of sprawling on a stony beach?  Agates are shiny even when they're dry; they're translucent; and you have to move a LOT of rocks to find them!  I also learned this was a relaxing undertaking that helped me perfect my favorite pastime, goofing off!  Two of these "trace agates" aren't even agates!  Can you guess which ones? 

And these little beauties are store-bought.

This agate "field" had something for everyone.  What self-respecting, driftwood-laden  beach would exist without a "fort"?

And today beachcombers and ocean lovers were treated to a lovely sunset and moon rise.

I call this my banded jasper sun!