A few weeks back, I wrote about my collecting during my travels. Rocks, twisted metal, seed pods, shells, bottles, tumbled brick bits, melted glass, bullet casings. I've been carefully bagging and labeling each location's treasures.
Some tourist destinations invite such hunting, like the Herkimer Diamond mines. That's where I realized by comparison, my collection skills are amateur and magpie like.
Dead Horse Bay was easier for my skill level, though I have to work on my editing.
Then I go to museums and look at the collections of others from thousands of years. These are ancient Egyptian carvings of knots and clams. Can you imagine finding a rock to carve to look like a clam, rather than just including two clam shells?
Miniature carved replicas of larger tools.
Some exhibits show objects that are clearly Something. A fish hook. A knife. Others show rocks the label swears was used for something. These displays fascinate me. A case full of rocks "heat cracked by prehistoric campfires". I stare at them, seeing no cracks or scorch marks, then marvel at the curators ability to make me pause and stare at ordinary rocks.
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