A Gem of A Day: Jewel Covered Ground

  There is a magical place about an hour and a half from where I live in Chinle.  Don't ask me how to get there.  Given the coordinates and a little luck the GPS keeps bleeping out things like, "In 1/4 mile turn left on unpaved road, in three hundred feet turn right on unpaved road, in two hundred feet..."  You get the idea.   I was lucky to be with Jolynn a seasoned rock hound at the wheel and we found our way there with only one wrong turn.

You know you are someplace special when the sand sparkles green and the ant hills rise up out of 

the earth glittering green and red.

 It is a lovely warm day early in November but it is difficult not to think Christmas surrounded by all the red and green bling.  The ant hills suggest Christmas trees.

 We were on a dig but at this special place there was little digging to be done.  The Garnets and Peridot were literally sprinkled on the ground.  We could sit or take a stroll plucking the gems out of the sand.

Those of you who know me and my penchant for collecting anything on the ground that sparkles or looks interesting, from driftwood to beach glass to petrified wood, know I was in shear bliss filling my jar with red and

green gems.

At the end of the day we scraped the tiny gems off of several ant hills and bagged them up to sift through at home.

The tiny bits hauled up out of the ground by ants suggest some ideas for Christmas decorations...tea candles for example or paper weights.

 But look at this swag.  There might even be a dark Apache Tear in there.  And some pieces are large enough to be cut and faceted.  Or they might sit on my window sill holding memories of a lovely day of found treasures.  Gems and friendship.   For this writer a new setting, poem or fantasy.

 I might be an eastern, beach kind of gal but the southwest keeps throwing me surprises.

(On any adventure remember to look behind you or you will miss half the beauty).

I am hooked and hope to get out and do some more treasure seeking for gems even if next time I need a shovel and a pick.