UNEARTHING TRUTH
After finishing my conference in Lexington at noon, I had three hours to make the 80 minute drive to the airport. That left a little bit of flex time to following up on a rock hound's tip from a few days previous. There was a new Wal-Mart in Fort Wright, KY that was built into the side of one of the areas river hills. The naturalist at Big Bone Lick State Park told me that folks had been finding trilobites over there. Given that the store is 10 miles from the airport (CVG), I hedged my bets that I could find something good if I sought out that beacon of American consumption. I was hoping for something like I bought as a 10 year old from the Field Museum of Natural History. I wasn't disappointed with the 45 minutes I spent scrambling over clay-slickened rocks behind the bargain center's loading dock. Here are some pictures of my specimens, and my attempt at identifying the items. More knowledgable readers are welcome to correct me! The trilobite in the center is about as big as a nickle.
Clockwise from the top are: monticule ornamented bryozoan coral, conglomerate crinoid slab, fossil coral stem, trilobite, individual crinoid stem, brachiopod (perhaps Rafinesquina), Hebertella brachiopod, and in the center another trilobite.
I had to pick and choose from numerous slabs like this one. Packed into this 7 inch piece are numerous intricate details of organisms from the large inland sea that covered much of middle America in the Ordovician Period.In under an hour, I had unearthed ample evidence of life extinct for more than 500 million years. I could have stayed there for hours (although it would have been nice to dig with someone who knew what he or she was doing!) As if to remind me to head to the airport, the sky opened up with one of those Midwestern thunderstorms I have grown to miss since moving to Seattle (land of perpetual mist). I got quite a bath running back to my car. Perhaps that was God's way of baptizing me in the truth of an Earth formed billions of years ago.
1 comment:
So, here it is, a beautiful Sunday night in Northerm Kentucky. I; being a US Navy retiree, and collector of stones from across the globe to remind me of their history and mine, and recently making a trip to an antique store in the Florence area found a couple geodes. Back to the present. I'm looking at methods of splitting one of my trophy finds to see its inner gift. I stumble onto your tale and travel. Hmmm, I believe I may have been lead to your site by the same God that helped wash off your endeavors while running to your car. What an entertaining tale you had. And to give me new insight where to continue my endeavors here. I am A South Dakota flatlander, that has a past of hours spent digging and enjoyig the riverbanks, and hollers of the flats. Now, here I am. Thank you for the tip, and I hope your life is fulfilling and packed with the joys of finding the auspicious wonders so many don't recognize. Have a wonderful Life! Just me, Vince
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