working endlessley and all I have to show for it is a rock

Since I am still working on the secret project, I cannot show pictures, but much good knitting is happening. It is coming along nicely. I may have found the rhythm, but I worry about thinking that. The usual pattern is that the moment I think I have it, I am about to fail dramatically.

I'm also completing a review of something connected to my previous work, which is why I have nothing to show you but for rocks. Yes rocks in the Charlie Brown way - 'All I got was a rock'.

Raising male children has it's challenges and rewards. Little boys like to collect, and find all kinds of things to wonder about and question.The small boy of the species can entertain himself endlessly looking at all the rocks on a pile of stones. This is further complicated by Mr. Needles B.Sc. in geology, and tendency to take us to the far corners of absolutely nowhere. (Generally nowhere is Alberta and Saskatchewan, but there have been other nowheres.) Add in a family with a penchant for Sunday afternoon drives and explorations on foot. Over the years we found some very interesting stuff.

These specimens were found at the very closed off mouth of an abandoned shaft (likely a coal shaft) in southern Alberta. They were scattered near the entrance to the shaft. Mr. Needles could tell more than you wanted to know about these rocks, but he is not here to ask.

I think the middle sample, which appears to be a very well preserved sample of vegetable matter, a branch or section of woody material, which has been replaced by quartz, was the first sample we found. The boys began to look at all the rocks that had that same sort of colour and we came home with these, and other interesting things. These ancient leaves are forever marked into the rocks. Some of the samples are so clear and well preserved, that you can see the tiny fine veins.

The specimens have no scientific value. We checked this out. There are laws here in Alberta about what you can legally collect and when you cannot collect. Because they were found loose, in a field near a past excavation, whatever value they might once have had is lost. They were quite simply tailings from the past excavations for coal. The value is in our collected family memories of Sunday afternoons and unexpected beauty.

The moral of this story, if there is one, must surely be, keep your eyes, your mind and your spirit open. Some days there is magic in the air, and some days the magic is in the things around us.