[Rockhounds] Winter Blah's Pop Quiz - What Was The Last Specimen Added To Your Collection?

[Tom Bowers]

Well, here in Texas it is the winter "hoorahs"!  It is excellent collecting weather in January and - so far - February with temperatures on most days in the 50's to 70's.  
 
January found me in West Texas about 100 miles north of Big Bend National Park looking for agates.  I came upon an exposure of some beautiful blue fortification agates comparable to the Balmorhea Blues that are now so scarce.  That is "officially" the last specimen "added" to my collection.  
 
However, so far February has found me cleaning out my garage and, in this effort, I came across some vert. fossils I'd collected years ago on the Brazos River before I knew much about vert. fossils.  In that grouping, I discovered that I'd inocently picked up a giant sloth claw without knowing what I had.  The irony of this is that, since learning about this fossil, I've wanted to find one in the worst way - and here I had one all along.  I'd count this also as a "last specimen added" and an exciting day in the garage!  
 
So far 2009 is looking like a great year!  (Now if I could only recover the retirement funds that I'd invested in the stock market and am now trying to live on day to day.  Oh well, life is not about money.)

--- On Thu, 2/5/09, Kreigh Tomaszewski <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net> wrote:

From: Kreigh Tomaszewski <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net>
Subject: [Rockhounds] Winter Blah's Pop Quiz - What Was The Last Specimen Added To Your Collection?
To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors" <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009, 9:29 PM

I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of Winter and the
blah's of not being able to collect. I'm cataloging a backlog of
specimens and the blah's still get to me from time to time. I need some
cheering up and want to hear about what people have collected.

The Winter Blah's Pop Quiz should cheer us all up and provide an
interesting snapshot to what is out there to be found this coming Summer. There
is only one question; only those who answer it pass the quiz (extra credit for
more details).

	What Was The Last Specimen Added To Your Collection?

-- 
I figure it is only fair I answer my own question to start...

My newest specimen is a thumbnail of Clinoptilolite-Ca, that is really a
micromount, from Rock Island Dam, Wenatchee, Wa, that I acquired from Jim Daly
at Sauktown Sales.

	Unsolicited plug from a satisfied customer - Jim has some great
	specimens if you are interested in micromounts or rare minerals.

It is a tectosilicate (zeolite) that forms in small bubbles in basalt,
monoclinic, clear to white. I had to go to 15X before I could confirm the
crystals, but there were a lot of them, and they were really sharp. They look
even better at 30X.

The specimen was a new species to my systematic collection. It made me happy.

-- 
I really hope some of you respond.

Kreigh


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