Connections

For you geology enthusiasts, here's something I was thinking about when a cold spell passed through the area a couple of weeks ago.

Biking out of the apartment complex one day, I noticed a dusting of snow had covered some bushes at the parking lot entrance. The structure, which had never seemed so gossamer before, caught my eye.


In fact, something about the bushes seemed familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it, at least not until last night when I was going through some pictures on my computer.

Over Thanksgiving my parents, brother and I spent a whole Sunday afternoon at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. My dad was trying to find a rock he'd seen before, and while he was off on his Quixote quest, I wandered around with my mom and bro. Not much caught my eye -- I mean, we'd been there the year before -- except this thing:


Quartz with rutile inclusions. At the time I think it reminded me of the grasses you find growing on the beach, like out on Lake Michigan. Where the dunes rise hundreds of feet into the skies, and stalwart grasses poke up in their shadows, just beyond the waterline. You'd go back there if you could -- I mean anyone would -- because those were perfect summer days. Warm, with the earth blushing under your feet. Clear, with the water stretching ahead for miles. And gladness everywhere, with dogs and children playing in the distance down the beach.

For now frost-covered bushes in the parking lot and a picture of rutile inclusions will be the closest I get back to being there. But someday... back to that beach and back into the sun.

P.S. Leave a comment -- this is posting number 100! Best to you all.... Stew