From the time I was old enough to be sent to fetch the milk cows and walked over the newly turned earth of the field east of the barn, I've been collecting rocks. Mom knew to send me out early because I dawdled over looking at and picking up every rock that caught my eye.
I get more excited about rocks than gem stones. I treasure the millions of years old geodes and petrified wood I've found, but I don't have to be able to identify what a rock is to love it. It only has to appeal to me - color, size, shape - I'll pick it up and carry it home.
If it's too big, I'll sit on it for a photo. 😄
Sabino Canyon near Tucson, AZ
Oh, and foraging? Generally foraging refers to hunting/searching for food either for human or animal consumption. But rock hunting feeds my soul, so foraging seems apt to me.
I have been to all the lower 48 states and brought home rocks from almost all of them.
I also have a chunk of Connemara marble I brought home from Ireland.
One of "the rarest forms of marble in the world" it is used as a building material as well as decoration and in jewelry.
The piece I brought back is the one on the left. The "Be" stone is one I bought in Oregon. I forget where I bought the large Celtic decorated stone.
The small smooth stone at the bottom right is my other international rock.
It was brought back by a friend who found it along the coast of the North Sea in Scotland.
She also brought me many rocks from her home in Tucson.
I treasure them all.
I was, and still am, enthralled by that honey gold rock(?) second from the left in the tier below the large stone in this photo.
I'm convinced it is the petrified plastron (underneath side) of a turtle.
Rock hunting was a favorite pastime with my grandchildren when they were young.
They made it the theme of my 80th birthday party - which I loved.
Happy National/International Rock Day! 😎💛
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