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I had the notion in the Sahara desert. Julie and I were sitting on a sand dune at sunset, and I had the notion to collect some of the fine, red sand in a pill bottle.

I was probably inspired by this scene in The West Wing. President Bartlet visits the home of a former, recently-deceased president. In his retirement, the former president travelled the world, collecting dirt from battlefields where Americans fought and died.

I had no such high-minded ideas–I just thought I’d collect some sand.

Since then, I’ve tried to remember to gather sand from beaches and river beds whenever I’m travelling. I’ve been keeping the sand in random bottles and jars, but I recently bought some old miniature gin bottles from an antique store in Quebec City.

Today I transferred the sand into my new bottles. Here’s the result (click to enlarge):

Here, from left to right, are the sources of the sand:

• A beach on Cortes Island.
• A beach near Bocas Del Toro in Panama.
• A beach in Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island
• A beach just outside the Old Town of Dubrovnik, Croatia
• The shore of the Pedernales River in Texas
• The shore of the L’Orbeau River in Lagrasse, France
• The Sahara Desert

I need to find some little rubber or cork stoppers for them, and eventually a box or rack to hold them.

An odd thing to collect, I suppose, but cheaper than watches or, I don’t know, Hummel figurines.