He’s a wonderful guy…Goldsworthy is…if you check up thread a bit I mentioned him to Beaucarnea. He has had a lasting and profound influence on our lives, the Mrs. and myself. We own Rivers and Tides…when we saw it at the independent theater here in CT, we both looked at each other and knew we must own the DVD. Sometimes I watch it with awe and see the wondrous simplicity of his ideas manefest in the most complex works of natural art I have ever seen. I have tried to emulate some of his work her in CT on my own property. But my stuff pales in comparison. But I suppose trying in itself brings me closer to my true love of nature, and what can be done with it…
**Beaucarnea ** here you go…From this summer in VT.
Whats not to like about rocks! People who aren’t in to rock collecting will never understand. Like some one upthread said, I have to resist the urge to pocket every cool rock I see when I’m out walking. As it is, I have boxes full of flint chips, broken arrow heads, all kinds of rock tools. I have shevles full of quartz crystals and rocks that are just pretty to me. I’m lucky to live in an area where there are abundant cystal mines, open to the public. For a fee you can go dig through the tailing piles for crystals. Thats how I spend a good portion of my free time in the spring. I will forgo food and become dehydrated because I get so invovled and lose track of time. There is nothing as cool as cleaning off all of the days “finds” and discovering whats under the dirt/clay. Unfortunately, dh doesn’t share this interest, but I have a couple of rockhounding buddies.
I’m really happy people enjoyed this thread. Justthis weekend a buddy of mine and I went to an Attic sale…I bought a cannon ball that was dug out of an old foundry near where I live. Not a rock, but it was cool
(former) Geologist checking in - Southern Africa has some cool geology and fossils, I’ve collected my fair share, plus I’ve still got some ore-bearing core from the mine I used to work at. My absolute favourite is the trilobite I found in the Karroo, closely followed by a Transvaal stromatolite in limestone. Also, some delicate calcite crystals from Namibia, as well as a (rather large) desert rose.
But I mostly like looking at rocks in situ. There’s a mountain pass nearby called the Seweweekspoort that has the most amazing overfolding and duplex structures. That, and the bottom of the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, where there is a gneiss basement studded with almandine garnets. That, and a lava wall shining with pyrite cubes 2km underground, are probably the greatest things I’ve ever seen, as far as scenery goes.
My interest started at about age four or five. My family took lots of small trips…anything from day trips to the natural history museum to long weekends in the local mountains. Most of my early items were purchased – a box of tumbled rocks from Gatlinburg, TN, and a polished geode from the gift shop of a museum. I collected quite a bit on my own, too. Smaller pieces are stored in tackle boxes, where I can easily sort and label them; larger ones are stored inside those big drums companies pack gourmet popcorn in. I’m still collecting; I feel like I have a nice mix of purchased pieces, and those I’ve gathered myself. Some of my favorite pieces are the fossils I dug up in my hometown (very small, but intact shells and shell impressions) and rocks I’ve collected on the coast of Maine (with a few bits of brick and glass thrown in, too).
When I was in the third grade, my class got to go on a field trip to dig fossils at Aurora, NC. That was an awesome experience…I have so many shark teeth from that dig! Because I attended a private school, parent chaperones had driven the kids to the site; they got to participate in the dig too. My dad was one of the few who found a (small) whale vertabra.
I go to the abandoned gravel pits near my home and sort through rocks for hours. Most of the rocks are ground up, the gravel comes from a glacial deposit. I don’t find many good samples, but I like to look.
Not a rock, but it was cool 