Some rocks I sneakily photographed in the museum at the top of Wenceslas Square in Prague. They have an absolutely dazzling selection which I could quite happily spend many hours examining.
Father Hand is a bit of a rockhound, and I attribute my obsession to him. As he has moved further west in the US, I have been treated to more and more drives punctuated with exclamations of, "Look at that mesa!" or "I think we've got time to go and see this disused mine...." and I have a number of rocks that he has unearthed, or that I have unearthed with him.
My rock collection is kept in a fishbowl downstairs. The winter darkness does not allow for good night time pictures but I will aim to take some tomorrow. It includes a salt crusted rock I picked up at Death Valley; a big green crystal Father Hand dug out of a cave wall in New Mexico (the same day I saw a centipede the length of my foot and screamed so loud he thought I'd been attacked by a bear); a perfectly spherical black stone I found on the beach in Hythe, whilst visiting my gran one summer; and a number of other memories. I have taken to fetching a rock home from every trip.
Unfortunately, sometimes the ones I want are too big to carry.
My interest in rocks has combined, this past year and a bit, with my love of learning, which is why I've been taking a Geology class after school on Fridays. It's great to be studying again and I find the history in it dizzying, due to the sheer scale of it. I now know the difference between andesitic and basaltic volcanoes; what an uncomformity is; how U and V shaped valleys were formed; and the different ways that metamorphic rocks are formed. I've also learnt quite a bit about fossils. Oh, and I get to go to Iceland in February.
Geology rocks. And that joke never gets old.
Pop on over to the Simply Cool Stuff blog to read the other weekworders this week, and look out for the new word on Carmen's blog from Monday.
6 comments:
Ooo! I love that you took an illegal picture as much as I enjoyed your photos. Can't wait to see what resides in the fishbowl.
I especially love those rocks you can't carry home with you. Such a nice post, and how cool to be taking a Geology Class. Lots of luck, and thanks for the peek into that Museum!
so, I assume you will be bringing home a ROCK from your trip?? Ummm, is that ROCK you wanted to bring home located on the coast of California? it looks like Big Sur (near the waterfall that pours into the ocean).
Have a safe trip with all your "darlings" and stay healthy!
Isn't taking classes to keep your learning fire going so much fun? I love all the sciences and geology is so incredibly cool, it sounds like you have a real rock hound attitude already :) I loved your "big rock" picture, I'm with Christine, it sure looks like Big Sur or maybe the Lost Coast? Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your post next week!
Wow, the "illegal" picture is great. When I saw the other photo my first thought was Etretat in France, but I think Christine and Carmen are closer to the facts....
Thanks for the comments!
The big rock is Durdle Door in Dorset, off the south coast of England :)
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