Message in a Bottle

Hundreds of years ago, Christopher Columbus fought for his life aboard a sailing vessel during a thundering storm at sea. With no hope of surviving the tempest, he scribbled a dire message to the Queen of Spain, informing her of his unprecedented geographical discoveries and his dangerous predicament. When he finished, he placed his message into a bottle and tossed it into the crashing water. Columbus eventually survived the storm, sailed the ocean blue and discovered new lands. Yet his message in a bottle remains at large.

This week I'm beachcombing for a message in a bottle on the third best beach in America. Ah, the travesty...

Approaching Coronado Beach Via the Dunes
(Awesomely amateur photo: Castaway Carrie Keyes)

I'm not expecting to find Columbus's message in a bottle here in The Nado, although the timing of this sort of discovery with Columbus Day would be ironic and could make for a viral blog post. But I digress. I'm combing the shore, searching for any old message in a bottle. Still unlikely, you say? Consider this: an Irish man and his son found an American message in a bottle just a couple of weeks ago. That's not the only recent bottle found, either. It happens more often than you think.

If you were to compose a message to place in a bottle, what would you write? Would you spell out your loftiest dreams? Make a plea for return contact? Wax poetic about travel and time or an unlikely journey? Advertise? Melt a stranger's heart with a love letter? Tell a joke? Confess to a burning secret? Render an overdue apology? Create a mini time capsule?

There's something intimate and adventuresome about placing a message in a bottle, wondering whether it will ever be found and who might find it washed ashore. I like the idea of hearts and curiosities, yearnings and pleas placed on paper, sealed, and sent drifting to unknown parts of the globe. I find it lulling to imagine the tides rolling the bottle around on the ocean floor until the patina of milky sea glass glows--hauntingly--and ribbons of shiny kelp twist around it. Your secret is safe inside.

If you found a message in a bottle, what would you want it to reveal? No matter how many nautical miles of foamy waves lap between sender and receiver, we're really only one simple message away from understanding one another.

I'm a castaway in an island paradise called Coronado. Whether you live in California or the Czech Republic, Japan or Florida, Britain or Belgium, Virginia or Guam, send me a message in a bottle, destination paradise. I want to know you're out there. You just might find a message wash up on your shore in return. After all, you're the reason why I use my pencil in paradise.

* The YouTube song of the week is "Message in a Bottle" by The Police.
* The Kevin Costner (is it hot in here?) movie Message in a Bottle is adapted from the novel by the same name, authored by the prolific writer Nicholas Sparks.
* Read fun facts about Christopher Columbus.
* Want to learn how to prepare a message in a bottle? Click here.
* Do your research before you toss your message overboard! Get the Scripps Institute of Oceanography Tide Chart here.
* Try this blog about sea glass. I found it while researching and thought it was interesting.
* Send a message in a bottle to your friends at www.carriekeyes.com.
* Send a message to the troops and let them know you appreciate their sacrifice.

(Find Pencil in Paradise at home, at www.sandiego.com and at www.eCoronado.com. You can also find Paradise on Facebook (search Pencil in Paradise) and on Twitter (@CarrieKeyes).)