Thursday, June 18, 2009

Rock Hound


I caught a photo of my darling niece "tasting" rocks yesterday afternoon.
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This photo reminds me of long ago, when we were small. Our Father was a rock hound. I loved to watch him working with the rocks. Dad would dig them up from everywhere. Sometimes we went on wonderful vacations, where we would find rare rocky beauties beside the roads, on the beaches and in the mountains.
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Dad would carefully smooth one side of a rock with his thumb, then he would "taste" it with his tongue. As any true Rock Hound knows, when a rock is wet, its true beauty is revealed--a precursor of what it would look like when "tumbled."
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I've known many a rock hound over the years, and all the old timers "taste" the rocks for color.
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As luck would have it, a year ago, or so, my niece and I were looking at some agates next to the pond--without thinking, I stuck a carnelian on my tongue to check it's true color...and guess who followed suit? (grin)
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So, here she is--our little "Rock Hound."

4 comments:

Cedar ... said...

your post about "rock hounding" reminds me of an old movie,.. Lucy and Desi in "The Long Long Trailer"... if you watch it you will know why I thought of it. I don't have a lot of rocks, but do have about a dozen favorites.

Cloudhands said...

what a cutie. A true stone chaser in the making. I guess hubby and I are just a couple of hillbillies, we don't lick, we spit and them smear to see the colors in our rock finds. I can see where I need to improve my technique somewhat.
Cedar, I saw the movie and have thought of it several times as we collected souvenir rocks in our travels.

Woman in a Window said...

Really? 'Tis true?

I thought I was the only one...but of course I'm not!

Clytie said...

There is nothing finer than picking up a sea-kissed agate, "tasting" it to see the color ... and ending up with a salty tongue! And a beautiful treasure as well.