Ol’ Dutch comes from a long line of rock collectors so it only stands to reason that he would also find pleasure in studying and finding rocks of different kinds. Rockhounding started way back in my roots – and on both sides of the family tree – so the old blood shines through, I guess.
I am not sure how that all works as it can skip a generation or two but then suddenly show back up down the proverbial blood line for no apparent reason. Grand #2 somehow caught that gene and since her toddler days has loved to look for and collect rocks.
Just yesterday Ol’ Dutch’s nephew came to visit for a vacation, and it appears that he is now going to be hauling rocks home by the truckload, too. His 9-year-old son has also inherited that rock-loving mania and is on his way to collecting pounds and pounds of rocks.
What is amazing is this “disease” can also appear suddenly in a person whose family never really had much interest in collecting pretty rocks. And that is what happened with Miss Trixie. She is also enamored not only with the rock collecting but with identifying just how they were formed.
She has really studied this area and the La Garita Supervolcano that occurred here from which many of the collectable rocks and gemstones originated. We spend time every summer looking for new places to find them. It was a huge volcano and, by some measurements, the largest explosion originating on planet Earth, so we are lucky to have such a place literally in our backyard.
Now Ol’ Dutch has been accused more than once of having “rocks for brains” or some such thing but now I tend to have rocks in the truck for our return to our winter abode as Miss Trixie picks them up with raw abandon.
This week we will show my nephew’s family some of our favorite spots – and collect more specimens, I’m sure.
And fun it will be as we have some great sites to revisit with Colorado Opal, geodes, amethyst, silver, quartz, thunder eggs, jasper, petrified wood, and innumerable other kinds of rocks.
As you all know, Miss Trixie is generous to a fault and will give away about anything she can lay her hands on. This became apparent to Ol’ Dutch when I found a nice piece of amber some 55 million years old.
Miss Trixie asked to see it and Ol’ Dutch expected to get it back, but she passed it on to Grand #2 who was with us that day. And poor Ol’ Dutch, who had never found a piece of that in his long lifetime, still doesn't have one in my collection as that kid won't give it back. And not to be outdone, Grand #1 found some real gold standing right next to me on the same day so I guess maybe it was just not my day.
This week marks the start of the Gem and Mineral show in Creede, Colorado and vendors and collectors come in from all over the country to hawk their wares to people of like mind. They not only have raw minerals and stones but lots of finished products that they have produced such as jewelry and decorative display pieces.
It is open this week Friday-Sunday, August 2-4,10 am-5pm and I encourage you to pay them a visit at the Creede Community Center if you want to see some great finds from local to around the world collections. Entrance is free, and the inside temps are cool.
We will have to go as I have created a rock collecting monster by exposing Miss Trixie to the hobby of rock hoarding and I am sure she will come away with some new finds there, too. That is if I can get her away from the show as she finds new “best friends” at every booth there and long conversations ensue with Ol’ Dutch standing around on one foot and the other while she finds out that she and her new friends are related, something like ninth cousins, removed.
If you are interested in knowing more about the area and where to look, she is willing to share that with you and will give away my prime area locations to all that ask. Thanks again, Miss Trixie.
Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV, or hike daily. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com.
