Dirt – A Buried Treasure? What is a Pirates Favorite letter?

“Arrrrr” -Corny I know but it fits with what is coming. Loosely, haha!

Dirt- Definition – “earth used to make a surface for a road, floor, or other area of ground..” In our case we are using it to build a driveway up to the property. This process has given us a new appreciation for those who build and maintain roadways. The initial work that is put into it is tremendous. We have spent just a week and a half and have at least another week and a half of moving dirt from one place (the site) to another (main driveway, building a place to store trailers, etc.).

One great byproduct has been finding a few precious gems as we unearth this dirt. We have found lots of pyrite (Fools Gold) but also some different quartz types (Smoky Quartz and Clear Quartz). What is amazing is the process that all these were made. They are always six sided due to there molecular makeup. But they are created primarily by Magma (lava) that heats it and then deposited it millions of years ago (possibly at the creation of the world) into these crevices of earth. Only to be found by us as we try to build a home. A welcome surprise!

It is kind of fun because it brings me back to the days of being about 6-7 years old. I guess my Great Grandpa (who unfortunately only lived until 1969, his name is Gotleb John, Thanks for the info Cindy) on my Dad’s side liked to collect stones of different kinds. When I was little I loved them, Grandma Margaret showed me a bunch that had been kept from years before and she helped me mount them. We took cardboard and put fabric around it to make it look nice and then laid out the stones where we wanted them to go. Then Grandma hot glued them so they would stay in place. I had these two sheets for years and still have them in a box somewhere. So it has been kind of funny thing for me as Dad, Tyler and I unearth this Dirt and often are running through it looking for our own buried treasure to keep for later. It is amazing how those little moments when you are a kid stick with and mold who you become later in life. I am still fascinated by “dirt”, nature, the wild and the unknown, all because as a kid experiencing rocks, hiking, camping, playing in the yard, etc. It makes me very grateful to my parents and grandparents for sharing these memories with me. I now long for the time when we will be able to start to personally experience and learn about all that the earth has to offer.