The long, long trailer

Today was a day off for me, it wasn't blowing a gale out there, and the sun was shining, so the hitchhiker and I decided to be tourists right here near home. There are several tourist-trap kind of places near the park along I-40 and we headed out when it was about as warm as it was going to get.

We hit four spots and the best one was this place, Stewart's Petrified Wood. 

OK, a school bus at the top of the hill is eye catching, but if that's all you're seeing, you're not paying attention:

Oh, the dinosaur!! you say. Yes, but look a little closer. Now we're talking.

This is a hint of the fun and interesting things Stewart's has to offer, like feeding their ten ostriches, but my favorite thing here is glass.

Lots and lots of gorgeous glass.

It's brought in by the barrel-full from Arkansas. We were told it comes from a cave and is naturally-occurring.

The colors are brilliant and rich and many pieces are loaded with texture, like the striations in the one below.

Or this one, where the bubbles are below surface.

I, who acquire next to nothing because I live in 31 linear feet, had to have a piece. Just a little one.

What a dilemma. It's impossible to compare any of them to another. 

I couldn't understand how all these colors came from one spot, so I did a little googling. It's not naturally-occurring at all, but is slag glass from steel foundaries, the product of silica removal from iron ore. Slag.... Knowing that doesn't make it any less beautiful.

The article I found said the glass is popular for aquarium use. I can believe it. With all the clear glass areas, the specks and swirls of color would appear to be suspended.

How to choose, how to choose?

This is not the one I bought and in fact haven't even taken a picture of it yet, but when I processed all the photos I kept saying, why didn't I buy this one... or this one... or this one? Does this look like the ocean or what?

According to the article I read on Rockhounding Arkansas, blues and greens are the most common; red, yellow, and orange less so.

Here's a a forest in spring.

Champagne, anyone? Complete with bubbles.

I felt like Lucy in The Long, Long Trailer. I wanted about 80% of everything I saw, but space is a reasonable excuse for exercising restraint. And the weight of these pieces. The mpg on the truck is bad enough, and it burns diesel to boot.

I came home with a little piece. It sells for $4 a pound and mine came to a little over $5. That's pretty small. Maybe I'll go back and get just a couple more.

Say good bye to T-Rex. Never mind they didn't even exist in the Triassic era.

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Thought of the day:
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. --- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/elisabethk119810.html#3BXA3LpO2jPQVkdK.99

People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/elisabethk119810.html#3BXA3LpO2jPQVkdK.99