I suppose the best place to start all of this is at the beginning. I was in third grade. My teacher's name was Mrs. Harris. I happened to think she was the bees knees. She had this wonderful habit of taking us on fantastic and whimsical field trips, much like a Mary Poppins of sorts. One day she took us on a day trip to a place called "Gems in the Sand", this little pokey "mining town" out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, to a third grade girl with a wild imagination, just getting out there in the fresh air and parading around the gift shop was enough. But we got to do something rather special right before we left. The man who ran this place had set up a water wheel that pumped water at a slow but steady current down a large channel, separated on each side my mesh wire. It was several yards in length and wide enough to fit one person on each side. It was a wonderful set-up, and our entire class was completely enthralled. We each had brought five dollars as per the instructions on the permission slips sent home, and they paid for a gallon bucket stuffed full of packed sand. We each were handed brightly colored plastic sand shovels and a wooden sifting tray. The point was to scoop little bits of sand out of the bucket into the sifter, and let the soft water current run over it all. While doing so, the sand would melt away to reveal stones of all shapes, sizes, colors and kinds. Most were little hunks of red jasper and occasionally some turquoise. But I must have had a gem collecting angel by my side that day, because the very first thing I came across was a shiny, glittering, oval-shaped stone in the most beautiful violet hue I'd ever seen. I had always enjoyed learning about rocks and such up until that point, so I figured what I had found was just some purplish quartz. But something about how the stone glittered and made me want to rub my fingers around it made me consider taking it to the man who owned the place, who was patiently watching over all of us grubby little elementary school kids from the front of the water wheel. I handed it to him, asking politely what I may have found. He turned it around in his hand, and told me with a smile he was pretty sure I had found an amethyst. I was amazed! I knew about amethyst and had read about it before, and I was so excited! I found a bunch of other little things here and there that day, but I treasured my gemstone find above all the rest. I remember Mrs. Harris gave me a plastic baggie from her purse for me to carry it home in, and I couldn't help but shove the baggie into my poor mother's face while screaming at the top of my lungs, "I got an amethyst!" when she picked me up from school.
Looking back on it now, I know for a fact that this was the event that started my life-long obsession with all gemstones. I remember how hungry I became just for basic knowledge of all gemstones, and how I fed it with book after book after book. I discovered that there was not only an entire world of beauty and history behind each and every stone, but some incredible science that - for once in my life - didn't bore me to tears! It was like discovering a whole different world, full of pretty, sparkly things that never quit. I couldn't stop obsessing, though the passion did die off a bit during high school. All of a sudden during that time, the term "cleavage" took on a whole new meaning. And to be honest, gemstones were the last thing on my mind, as we all know... and remember.
I repressed the urge to continue my obsession when I was dragged off to a traditional four year university by my father (God bless him, he would have had a literal cow if I had told him I wanted to learn how to play with rocks for a living). It only truly resurfaced after I was married and had started a family of my own, and my life started to pan out the way I wanted it to. I started becoming hungry for even more knowledge, and so I made a running leap into the deep end and started treading water fast. I bought everything I could get my hands on education-wise, and spent hours upon hours with notebooks and highlighters. Since it's a practice I still carry on today, I won't knock it. Anyone who collects gemstones will tell you the same thing. There's this insatiable need to know everything humanly possible about a certain gem before adding it to the collection, and the need to control the whole process is a trait all gemstone lovers share. Call us OCD, call us crazy, whatever. To each their own. And we choose the way of the sparklies.
So the long story short (too late), I have become a true gemstone lover and collector, and the knowledge I have acquired in the many years since that first amethyst has served me well. I continue to learn, and usually I pass on my information to captive audiences... even if they aren't even really listening to me. You know your husband is tuning you out when he starts snoring whilst you ponder the wonders of pleochroismsomeone's thoughts and experiences through a basic blog like this one when I was younger and first starting out, I would have absolutely soaked it up and used it for great good in my own personal journey. I wanted to give someone out there - even if it's just one person - a chance at that very thing. You know, just lay it all out from beginning to end, with some laughs thrown in to keep the sterile stereotype of the gem scholar from sneaking in. I'll talk more about that later... I'm so looking forward to sharing all I know and love with anyone and everyone who's willing and wanting to listen... or read rather. I hope all who stumble upon my corner of the Internet universe find a great deal of concise, digestible information, and enjoy the hilarious antics that inevitably follow me, my toddler, and my gemstones. Yes, there's a two year old involved...
So in the beginning, there was an amethyst. And I have yet to find a quitting point. Here's to the hope that we will enjoy all of the wonderful things the world of gemstones has to offer, from the scientific to the spiritual and beyond. I will do my best to make this an awesome experience for us all, and my sincerest hope is that you gain from me even the smallest something, even if it's just a moment of laughter. Until next time!
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