Post by michaelfile23 on Sept 3, 2023 1:26:20 GMT -5
Within the last couple years I've become fascinated with geology, paleontology, archeology, and rock tumbling. I live 52 miles East of Yellowstone Park in Cody, WY. I got dirt bikes for my son and I as we live seconds away from the middle of nowhere. Initially we were just riding trails and getting used to the machines. One night I was out by myself and had a colossal wreck. Due to a car accident 20 years ago, if I land on my right side my ribs crack. so, I'm laying there upside down with a 315 pound dirtbike on top of me. I try to get free and in doing so grab a handful of what I assume is dirt. I looked at the contents of my hand and realized it wasn't dirt or gravel. My hand was full of gryphaea...aka devil's toenails. I looked from side to side amd realized I was in a fossil bed. This was exciting enough that I was able to get out from the bike. I began walking and looking around. The realization came upon me that I'd been living here for most of my life and never took the time to see the story the landscape had to tell. From that day on I've been obsessed with going out there everyday the weather permits. I started out collecting the gryphaea, moved on to belemnites, started finding dinosaur bones, and gastroliths. From there I began finding red jasper, chalcedony, agate, and crystals. I acquired a double barrel Lortone tumbler, ordered the grits and started tumbling. I've found 100's of pounds of petrified wood. I also find nephrite jade, opal, basalt, obsidian, amethyst, and a number of other things. I also have had too many close encounters with rattlesnakes. There are coyotes, an occasional wolf or mountain lion, badgers, lizards, scorpions, and spiders. I feed the ravens unsalted peanuts in the shell and have a couple of them that follow me around. Sometimes they leave me shiny things or buttons and such. I host and produce a podcast from my home studio and my rule for guests is that they must take a rock. I put out the best of what I get from the tumbler. I have a bigger tumbler, but need a motor for it...i believe it's a lortone 45C...off the top of my head.
Anyhow, as a kid, I used to love rocks. I'd collect them and clean them up and try selling them to my neighbors. Somewhere along the way I lost that fascination, but am now a little bit compulsive about it. If the weather's bad and I can't get out on my dirt bike I get in a bad mood. I only have a tile saw to cut with, and I've got a number of grinders with diamond bitsthat suffice for now, but I'm saving for a lapidary saw and cab machine. I ran across this forum tonight and thought it couldn't hurt to join. I do all of this myself and sometimes I'd like to have people to talk with. I am a relative newbie and don't know a lot about what I'm doing, but I enjoy it. I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere, so there aren't many rock shows or rock shops. It would be cool to meet somebody who liked to do the same because it is dangerous to do what I do. I've puut myself in some really bad spots that I barely got out of, but Im not scared. If I meet my end out there doing what I love there's not much else a guy could ask for. Better than going out in a hospital bed and well have to go at some point. Not to be macabre.
I'm also a freelance writer with the gift of gab, if you all couldn't tell. It would be cool to be a part of a community that's is into the same thing. I'm always looking for knowledge and try to learn something new every day. My rocks are turning out better with every batch, but there is a lot I have to learn. I look forward to learning from you all and am excited to have found a forum like this.
In Rock We Trust,
Mike
Anyhow, as a kid, I used to love rocks. I'd collect them and clean them up and try selling them to my neighbors. Somewhere along the way I lost that fascination, but am now a little bit compulsive about it. If the weather's bad and I can't get out on my dirt bike I get in a bad mood. I only have a tile saw to cut with, and I've got a number of grinders with diamond bitsthat suffice for now, but I'm saving for a lapidary saw and cab machine. I ran across this forum tonight and thought it couldn't hurt to join. I do all of this myself and sometimes I'd like to have people to talk with. I am a relative newbie and don't know a lot about what I'm doing, but I enjoy it. I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere, so there aren't many rock shows or rock shops. It would be cool to meet somebody who liked to do the same because it is dangerous to do what I do. I've puut myself in some really bad spots that I barely got out of, but Im not scared. If I meet my end out there doing what I love there's not much else a guy could ask for. Better than going out in a hospital bed and well have to go at some point. Not to be macabre.
I'm also a freelance writer with the gift of gab, if you all couldn't tell. It would be cool to be a part of a community that's is into the same thing. I'm always looking for knowledge and try to learn something new every day. My rocks are turning out better with every batch, but there is a lot I have to learn. I look forward to learning from you all and am excited to have found a forum like this.
In Rock We Trust,
Mike