Synopsis From Sand

 Synopsis From Sand

Oh my, there are so many things that I could summarize about the role that sand plays  in the universe. I will keep this letter as brief as I can. Let me first start with some foundational sand foot prints!

I know beach sand and river sand just looks like a gazillion particles that are all the same. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Did you know that in spite of it looking like it’s all the same sand is made up of, among many other things, quartz crystal, shells, see urchin spines, coral and all kinds of hard bits from creature bodies? Here’s some other interesting bits -

• Sand is a non-renewable resource. The only way to get more sand is time. Lots of time. Some speculate that it will take about 80 million years to get more sand. That’s why technically it’s called nonrenewable… Who can wait around 80 million years for more sand to show up?

• Beach and fossil sand is used in concrete to the measure of approximately between 30 and 50,000,000,000 (that’s billion, I used the zeroes for effect) tons a year. It’s difficult to say for sure because in spite of it being an essential component in so many things, it is largely an unregulated mining industry. Almost lawless, in fact. 

• The wind, that chronic constant desert wind, ultimately has rendered desert sand, my cousins, unusable for many of the applications that sand from rivers and beaches extracted for. It doesn’t bind. 

• Beach and river sand that is used to make concrete is also an essential component in most roads, glass and electronics. Ironically sand is even essential in the extraction processes for other natural elements.

People pay lots of attention to the impact of building and urbanization of wild spaces, but the impact of materials required for these constructions is largely unregulated. People who pay attention to such things are beginning to recognize that over-mining and unregulated use of sand is beginning to impact river water tables and, therefore, drinking water supplies and well water. Lots of regulations exist on the extraction of other natural resources and because sand looks so plentiful and ordinary it has escaped notice… please, notice, we’re running out of sand. Seriously.

I don’t mean to alarm you. I know that you have a real fondness for walking on long stretches of beaches and the supply must strike you as infinite, but it isn’t. Perhaps this will be a wake up call for you?

While you are considering these somewhat serious implications, let me share a couple of important lessons that sand offers you. You’ve heard that things are not always what they appear. This is especially true with sand. There’s a fellow named Dr. Greenberg who devotes the better part of his days to revealing the microscopic beauty contained in sand. It might appear like so much of sand is exactly the same, not! In fact it couldn’t be further from the truth. Just take a look at one of Dr. Greenberg’s pictures I am including. Author, Mary Anne em Radmacher, repeats, “look again. Always, look again.” Something that strikes you as plain and ordinary may actually be exquisite and extraordinary. This is certainly true for sand and in fact, may be a good thing for you to remember when you look in the mirror.

Thanks for reading this Sand synopsis and hopefully you will see and feel differently the next time lay your foot fall on sand or you look at a stretch of beach or river sand. 

Holding you up and together all these years, 

Sand