Amanda Takes Off...

While we were in Stockholm, I wanted to buy an amber necklace. I never did. This time I bought a Labradorite pendant early on, with Good Man's encouragement. I'd never seen Labradorite before, but it caught my eye because it really glows.

Labradorite

Labradorite

When I first looked at it, I asked the shop clerk what kind of mineral it was.

I was expecting something like "a feldspar," or "it's a silicate."

The clerk said, "It comes from the mines." Before I could reply, she explained, "You know, where they dig up rocks?"

I was so dumbstruck I didn't even know what to say. I do know what mines are. I even know how rocks and minerals are different.

Labradorite

Labradorite

When we were kids we went fossil hunting (with Mom mostly, but also with Dad). My brother and I bought geodes and smashed them open for fun. Dad and I drove around Arizona with a roadside geology guide (so fun!). Johnny and ran a rock tumbler every weekend at my dad's house. I did a high-temperature geochemical research project two summers in a row in college. (I primarily cut rocks up one year, and ran an x-ray machine to find ultra-trace elements the second year.)

I forgot that most people don't really know anything about geology. Silly me.