Yessir, She's a Rockhound

Does she love diamonds? Nope, just rocks.

If Dan were asked if his wife is the high maintenance type, he would surely chuckle and shake his head no. My husband knows that I am happiest existing amongst the wildflowers with my head in a book, or sitting smack dab in the middle of a pile of gravel or mine tailings or just cool rocks, just about anywhere. Well, make that anywhere. Unless there are bite-y bugs aplenty, and not if I have to stay clean for some reason. In that case, I will be quick about it, but I won’t pass up a chance to at least pick a few up to enjoy their personalities.

As a child, rocks and minerals fascinated me. Even before I bought my first rock collection at a souvenir shop in Joplin, Missouri, I was a rock collector. This pre-fab collection was housed in a thin, flat white wooden box with each mineral type-labeled and stuck down firmly with glue. It was a treasure beyond measure for this rock-loving nature girl.

As soon as I could memorize each of their names, I peeled them out of the box and meticulously removed the glue, examining the other side with a sense of awe. How many people just left them stuck and never got to see the other side? Not me, amigo. I was far too curious for that nonsense.

It wasn’t long before I knew the names of most of the rocks in those bag-a- scoop barrels. I could tell you immediately whether I had one of those or not at home. There was a good chance that I did. It was hard to walk away from the undyed natural tumbled beauties, but I did, unless of course I didn’t have one of those yet.

It brings me such joy that some of my nearest and dearest friends share my love of rocks. When my bestie Donna (Pixie Pal) came to visit us here in Quartzsite back in October, she was all about the rocks. For the biggest part of her 11-day visit, we traveled to my favorite local gettin’ spots to look for cool rocks. A Thermos of coffee, a jug of water, our ‘hounding gear, and a few snacks was all we needed for a great day afield.

My Pixie Pal and I tromped all over the desert, choosing a different direction each day. That girl was hanging off the side of mountains pounding on huge hematite nodules, then dashing them down the hill onto bigger rocks, hoping to see what was inside.

I was more of a walk a bit, sit a long while variety rockhound after the first day or two, but that suited both of us just fine. As long as we were within site distance of each other, we could each do it our own way. Donna and I have rockhounded together in Texas, Oregon, and Arkansas over the years. I am so very grateful that it is her “thing”, too!

Our backyard was graced with some spiffy new rocky landscaping features, each holding so many memories for me. I can pick up just about any rock and tell you where I was when I found it. In the desert, you don’t get the choice of rocks/sand or grass in the yard unless you are willing to waste a lot of money on watering grass. We are happy to choose sand, rocks, and a few native or hearty plants. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Finding beautiful banded agate, chalcedony, and fire agate at Saddle Mountain was the highlight of our local rockhounding adventures.

It took us awhile to clean our pile. I will admit that many of mine went into the yard on trays to become dusty once again. Beyond wetting them to search for best of the best, I didn’t go crazy cleaning them. Pix did a fine job, though. Many a large Priority Mail box was filled and shipped back to be part of the beautiful landscaping or on collector’s shelves at her home in Texas.

The quartzite heart at the top of the page was a gift from our sweet friend Sherita (Deni) Coker, a fellow “Nomadland” movie extra. In the movie, you can see her talking about her ancestors around the campfire. She came to visit us recently here in Quartzsite (the site where they found both quartz, and quartzite) while she was camping around the area.

We were lucky to have several visits from her and her road dawg Oliver. Our dogs love Oliver. Oliver thinks our fenced-in backyard is Disneyland. I laughed when Deni had to dig through a few tin buckets full in her van before finding the one that was meant for me. She and Oliver searched for three days to find it. That meant the world to me! We truly are birds of a feather, and I love her dearly. One of the best parts about living in Quartzsite is seeing nomadic friends as they pass through on their way to someplace else.

Over the years, I have managed to turn my beloved into a rockhound as well. He doesn’t mind mining for minerals and cool rocks, but he prefers the shiny ones.

And with that, I will wish you all a belated Easter and apologize for not getting something out last week. Life happens, and then you pick up and write beginning of the next week.

Make it a great day!

~Brenda Cordray

The Desert Rose

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