elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 12, 2012 21:24:35 GMT -5
I think the reason some of us have rocks is not to work them. It's just so we can have fun moving them around and organize them in different ways.
Daniel, And don't feel too bad about his back yard. I think I lugged home 3 or 4 truck loads of stuff that Mel couldn't take with him...so much of what he left behind still has a good home. I tried to get all the good rock possible ... I feared he would follow through on his threat of tossing the homeless pieces down into the gully behind his house....talk about an urban field trip----find that creek and win a prize.. You can'5 find a more generous person than Mel. bEsides he made a lot of WIccans very happy with all his pink and red rocks. Or we're they new agers? I get them confused.
Mel, can't wait to see what treasures you pull from that pirate hoard of yours...
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 22:13:55 GMT -5
When going through my shelves today I found a crystal that I inherited from my Grandparents. I believe it is from Colorado as my family had lived there and other specimens are listed as being from there. I'm an agate guy, so my guess is pure guesswork: Beryl? Amazonite? It has a slight green tint. I know the shot is not the best. Let me know if you need a better angle. Thanks. Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 21:52:12 GMT -5
Yeah, I know this is an old post, but it's awesome stuff.
Some unnamed material:
Two under the rhodochrosite is a green and red slab which is Christmas Tree Agate from the South Cady's.
Also - you have some 'Cycad' roots from Mule Canyon shown. Bill Depue, owner of Diamond Pacific, has told me the story of his mother being dropped off in that Mule Canyon region to sift for petrified palm root pieces (not the chunks, but roots like you have shown) in the 40's and 50's. They would sell the roots to Greiger's in Pasadena, which was one of the biggest lapidary dealers in SoCal for years - to my understanding. They would sell them for $.25 each, if I remember right.
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 16:20:18 GMT -5
I just shot some photos of California material for the Index (yeah, yeah, the ever present thing I'm always blabbing on about....) and thought I'd drop a couple here. I haven't tumbled anything for a couple years, but looking at what I used to do, I think I want to start messing around with the sludge again. It's like Cracker Jacks - a surprise in every load, and I miss the constant amazement coming from cleaning the first run and seeing the color and patterns appear. Wiley Well Misc agates Gem Hill, Rosamond Mule Canyon Jasper Coon Hollow Chalcedony Wiley Well Banded 'Jasper' from the Corn Field Rootbeer Agate - Jalama Beach Thanks for looking. Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 16:06:53 GMT -5
This looks to be more Keokuk (or other midwest variety) in type than Arizona. Most of the Arizona locations that produce geodes are more of the thunderegg type - like those by Kofa(I think that's the name) or Brenda. They have that rhyolitic shell. Your exterior has that coral head look that many Keokuks have, and these can get quite large as well, which your specimen certainly fits. Look them up to compare. A random site I just found is called "First Crack Geodes" try there. firstcrackgeodes.ipower.com/index.htmlBut then again, what do I know? I'm just a misunderstood rock expert according to my ID. Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 12:40:19 GMT -5
Excellent Idea!
I'm not on facebook, but have been wondering if the agate Index itself could be altered and done as a Facebook site preventing the need for downloadable material...
Anyways, it will be interesting to see how many people out there use facebook.
Good luck with this Steve,
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Luna
Dec 9, 2012 12:21:29 GMT -5
Post by elementary on Dec 9, 2012 12:21:29 GMT -5
One of my favorite agates, and it ain't even a nodule....
Part of my fascination is its rarity, part is that it's purple, and lastly, those little orbs. Always staring at me.....like little hypnotic eyes....telling me "You like Luna"....telling me "I need to find Luna".... "you must collect and horde Luna" ... "Luna is your friend"
Whaa?
Escuse me....What was I saying?
I gotta go.. I have a need to find a rock shop...
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Dec 8, 2012 21:57:24 GMT -5
Damn,
This stuff looks like what you'd get if you slabbed an Elf....all red and filamenty!
Elfjello.... Very fitting!
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Dec 6, 2012 22:49:34 GMT -5
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Dec 2, 2012 17:13:25 GMT -5
To all,
I'm finishing up the California index and am working on the peripheral section. In looking over my photos, I though I had a bunch of pictures from Mel showing local jade, but for the life of me I can't find them....I also thought Chris1234 had posted some Randsburg Rhodonite, but can't find them either.
So - for christmas I am looking for images to include in the California index of rhodonite (randsburg, crafton hills, rosamond, anywhere else?), jade (specifically Jade Cove but all else), as well as howlite, rootbeer onyx from near trona, and any other material that doesn't fit under quartz but is used in polished lapidary work. Some rose quartz from Green Mountain would also help.
My special request - so far unfulfilled, is for a couple good shots of Berkeley nodules. That's one of my largest gaps right now. Anybody accept that challenge?
Just post that photos and I'll contact you.
I appreciate all help in making this index as complete and detailed as possible.
Thank you
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Dec 2, 2012 17:08:50 GMT -5
Damn !!!!!!
Love that last pict. Frame it and keep it forever!
Nice find!
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Dec 2, 2012 17:06:47 GMT -5
Man, that is some pretty material.
Nice and spectacular.
Thanks for sharing,
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Nov 24, 2012 14:45:58 GMT -5
That fibrous geode looks similar to a batch I found at the Potato Patch in the Wiley Well area. I've never had the crystals identified. Any idea what they are? Thanks for sharing, Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Nov 21, 2012 15:58:16 GMT -5
I made a few last minute purchases at the Oxnard Gem and Mineral show last weekend. Just finished chronicling them and putting them away for future displays. Here's the bear canyon agate from Montana. I love the stuff. I bought this one for the fortification patterns on the end piece. The other was a lil baby piece I'll give away in class: A cheaper crater agate without some of the better colors - but a type I didn't have polished in my collection: Some petrified wood from Horse Canyon - samples for the Index: Three red horn coral from Utah I'm looking forward to polishing. Another sample I didn't have: A Moctezuma for my display case: A batch of cheap agates for prizes in my class: One from the batch above that my daughter snagged for her growing collection: Lastly, I have a friend who likes what I do for the kids, and both him and his wife are agate fiends. He has a pile of smaller rough in his backyard that he digs out from time to time and drops the bucket in my car when we meet at shows. Few of it is top end, but there are surprises to be found that make great specimens, and much is the perfect size for tumbling. This batch had Montana, Condor, Agate Creek, Chihuahua mixes, Mozambique, and others: Thanks for looking... Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Nov 21, 2012 15:39:58 GMT -5
They don't look to be holly blue. Holley (holly) blue won't have those colors inside, nor is it - if I recall properly - a nodular agate like you're showing. That said, I like the colors your getting on the inside. I'll see if I can dig up a couple holley (holly) blue agate shots for you. Lowell (modified post to add photos)
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Nov 19, 2012 18:33:22 GMT -5
This is hilarious. Seriously, but not in a mean way, but in a wonderful surprise kinda way...
I love this place. This was just going to be a random off-the-wall question placed out here like a fishing lure. I expected it to be a 5 - 6 response post at best, and I think it's turned into my most responded to question in many months...which is wonderfully randomly spectacularly great! I love the unexpected (just ask Monte Python's Spanish Inquisition...)
Truthfully, for those curious about my thought process in asking this question, being slightly compulsive, I rarely delete posts as many of them contain information (addresses, responses to rock questions, trade details, permission for use of images for the Index, etc) and I just thought my ratio would be on the high side (8:5). Curious as to if my thought process would play out, I posted the question to see if others were as low posting - high PMing as I was.
In addition, I wanted to post a non-political question that would bring all parties together for some non-partisan analysis!
Thank you all for making my day!
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Nov 19, 2012 0:01:57 GMT -5
I've been here for quite a few years but can't say I'm as prolific as other posters, but I seem to have a narrow ratio of PM to posts: 850 posts vs 534 PMs.
Does anybody else have such a close relationship?
in other words - I've showed you my privates.....now it's your turn to show yours....
:cheesy:
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Nov 18, 2012 21:16:38 GMT -5
"Quote" Usually the more education and training you get the smarter you work, the faster you work and the more you make. It is not a crime except in the mind of folks are too lazy to get education and training necessary for success, who hate success in others, or feel guilty about the success they've achieved. Why the heck else do poor folks try to get their kids educated? They do it so their children will be smarter, work smarter, work less, and make more money so they can have a better life. It's all about incentive. ...Mel"
I agree with almost all of what Mel says here, and the only stumbling point is the inclusion of "work less". If you are talking not working two jobs or long nights, yes, but for the most part, I see business success (ownership of and running of) as excessively time consuming and stressful, but this accomplishment provides freedom from the hourly or the manual labor that many of the parents at my school are occupied with. Long hours can mean greater responsibility and success as well. Parents feel a sense of pride in providing this level of education to their children and therefore a shot a greater stature in a society that looks down on the farmworkers, restaurant workers, and low paying clerk positions. Lawyers and CEO's and business owners burn huge percentages of their day to be successful. I think it's not working less that these parents are pushing their offspring towards, but rather a successful, more secure future - one that is considered 'accomplished' - and education does lead towards this. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage (25% or so) who do not see or value education as a viable path to security - I hate to admit, and their kids reflect this feeling that things should be handed to them rather than earned. It's the children whose parents understand that education = opportunity that succeed the most.
At our school I often hear teachers completely dumbfounded about how certain parents don't seem to realize the value of education and I tell them that teachers are ALL college educated - beyond the normal BA or BS - and so have come to learn or were taught by parents the value of work and responsibility. The parents who they are trying to convince come from families with value systems at times diametrically opposed to ours. These parents are not the majority, but they do exist in numbers enough that the "where's mine" style of living instead of "how do I earn it" gets redundant. In my class, students are given what is needed to do their work, but practically everything else is earned via work, responsibility, and accomplishments. Even voting for the classroom president can be lost if one is suspended, detained after school, or sent to the office for misbehaving and punished. I tell them people convicted of a felony can't vote, and they need to learn that behavior has benefits and consequences. It amazes me how many of them believe that the two aren't connected. (But that is another arguement/comment.)
I'll leave you all to your argument. I just wanted to comment on the 'work less' aspect as I see it not exactly reflective to Mel's argument. Working longer is not working worse. Sometimes it means your more successful - depending on the responsibilities involved.
Now back to our regularly scheduled argument...
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Nov 18, 2012 15:34:11 GMT -5
Wow Mel,
I love posts like this, but heck, you already knew that!
Thanks for putting this together. It amazes me the wide variety of stuff that gets dumped along that river.
The colors and patterns are amazing, but it makes me wonder where some of the original deposits could have been located. Has there been any research on source locations for the material found along this corridor? (And would Zapata material fall into this 'brought in from other locations category?)
Thanks much!
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Nov 18, 2012 15:26:05 GMT -5
Love your handful!
Especially that funky one!
Lowell
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