It is always exciting for me when I get the word back that a meteorite has finished being classified and is off to be approved. That happened several weeks ago for Paul and me. Three meteorites I had found while cutting a mixed box of stones looked unusual enough to warrant being sent off and classified. NWA 10731 as it
I am heading out to the Holbrook strewnfield in a few days. I missed the hundredth anniversary gathering/hunt and all the yearly ones since. Paul and I did get out there several years ago for a very successful two days of hunting. This year I am going to go to the yearly hunt. When I was working full time it
Before and After Holbrook and Meteor Crater Trip Read Post »
Well, you can guess that title is not referring to the lettuce that was forgotten in the refrigerator. Meteorites also do not always make it to fifty thousand years before completely falling apart and dissolving into the dirt. But, many desert falls do make it to that age or even longer. I had the process of weathering dramatically displayed for
To tell the truth I do not really know how many times I have attended the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show but it has to be close to 25. I start getting excited about going just about New Year’s and struggle to get through the month of January. This year Paul and I went for a shorter time and very
The end of one year and the beginning of the next always seem to be a time of reflection for me. I think about the things I did during the year and the things that I did not complete. This last year I left two ceramics projects I wanted to do not even attempted. So they roll over to 2016.
The History Twenty years ago Jim Kriegh found the first meteorites at Gold Basin, Arizona while prospecting for gold in Hualapai Wash. He had the stones identified and confirmed as space rocks. For the next two years or so the area was systematically hunted by Jim Kriegh and Twink Monrad and John Blennert to determine the extent of the strewnfield
The 20th Anniversary Gold Basin Meteorite Celebration Read Post »
Well summer is nearly over as I write this. It has been a fun season this year. Got in a couple trip to the desert for astrophotography. Got some ceramic pieces made and with both those interests tried new equipment and techniques. I try to never stop learning new things. This article has frankly been a problem. I have been
Spent a week making slices of Muong Nong Layered Tektite that were thin enough to see through easily. I do this every decade or so. It is hard work and time consuming. They can break easily if I am not careful since they are glass and only .020 -.030 inches thick. They are quite fragile. We know that they are
For once I have used the springtime for Spring Cleaning. Over the last couple years I have been doing project after project non stop in the garage and it was really getting out of control. I had reduced my available work space down to the corner of one work table. So after two weeks of work and dozens of old
Edwin ET Thompson’s room was sort of ground zero for this year’s show. What fun we had sitting there listening to his stories and telling stories of our own. Of course we told no lies. ET has worked hard all year on a science fiction book titled EarthUnder. It is truly a breath of fresh air in a branch of
One of the wonderful things that the Internet has brought to us is the vast amount of images available on every topic. For meteorites many different issues can create challenges for getting images done well. Even as I write this I realize that I will not be able to show the images in this article at their hi resolution. We
In my last article I mentioned that I might try to get in a trip meteorite hunting in the autumn. Well, this article begins when I got an email from my friend Richard Garcia that a trip meteorite hunting was being put together and would I like to go. Not too tough a question, but I had to look at
Summer 2014 is just about gone. I did not do any meteorite hunting yet this year. Astrophotography has been taking up most of my out of town time. But, I might try really hard to get one trip in to hunt in the fall if I can tear myself away from the scope and camera. But, even though I did
I do not usually watch the programs on television about alien from the past that have landed on Earth. But I was changing channels recently and found myself at one of those programs. After just a few minutes I had heard several wrong statements and enough bad conclusions drawn from unrelated facts to last me a few more years. But,
I have had a great adventure the last couple weeks. My old diamond saw that I made about 30 years ago final died and I needed a new one. There is nothing on the market to go out and buy that will do what I want from a diamond saw. So I took a week or so to think about
