My First Rock Show

On Sunday I went to my very first Rock, Mineral, and Gem Show. My daughter Ruth, the geology major, and my daughter Sarah's boyfriend, Frank, went with me. It was held at the fairgrounds in Spokane, WA. All I can say is WOW! WOW! WOW! I'm still high from the experience.

I had no idea rocks could be so beautiful. Every color under the rainbow was represented by rocks. Every shade and hue. Reds, purples, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, pinks... I'm amazed, awed, and madly in love with rocks.

The thing that I really got the most out of was seeing the rocks in their natural 'how it looks when you find it laying on the ground' state. How on earth would anyone know what was inside them? They look like ordinary brown/grey/black rocks. They had beautiful displays in cases in the entry hall showing examples and samples of different rocks, how they are cut, what types of things they can be used for making, where they come from. I had to look in them over and over. Mother Nature is truly awesome.

Of course, I could not get out of that place without buying something. In fact, I went a little crazy. I got Ruth a rock hammer. She's gonna need it. She's a geology major! I also got her a book of American rocks or something like that-for identifying rocks one finds. Kind of like the Audubon Book of North American Birds, only for rocks.

Forget bead shows for stone cabochons. Go to a Rock show! You will find picture jasper, agates, fossils, and gem stones galore to tickle your fancy. I bought 11 cabochons that we could not live without. Most of them were inexpensive ($3 apiece). But the 2 creams of the crop, so to speak, were a slice of stalactite, of all things, with amethyst crystals growing around it, and a cabochon that is literally florescent green with teals, royal blue, red, green, and black. The fellow I bought it from told me what it was, but I can't remember. Chryso-something. I should have asked him to write it down on the back of his card for me. Yes, I got his card. He does beautiful work with his rocks. I WILL want to buy from him again.

Yesterday, while I was away at bead group, Ruth made use of her rock hammer. She went out to the gravel pit by the big field and did some hammering. She found garnets in our back yard. Now, that is cool!