Where taking Geology 10 pays off

I was a liberal arts major at Carolina.  I started out not knowing what to major in, but I knew it was not going to be math or science-related.  So I was required to only take one science and two maths, and I chose geology as my science the first semester of my freshman year.

It was my first large lecture class, and we met once a week with a TA for "lab."  Lab was pretty much just identifying rocks.  Or dropping hydrochloric acid on things to see if they dissolved.

Madeleine and Lily have always collected rocks they find on playgrounds and such.  Usually the rocks hang out in a bucket until they're discreetly deposited in the side yard.  This week Madeleine came home with her rocks in a ziplock, and Ms. Bailey had included a booklet on rocks and minerals.  I never thought I'd be explaining the difference between sedimentary rock and igneous rocks to six year-olds.

On Sunday during homework time we read through the book and talked about her rocks.  Then I got out my stash of rocks I got while panning in high school and ones I'd purchased at gem shows because I thought they were cool.  The girls were EXCITED.

I Googled panning places and came up with a few, but they weren't open on Sundays.  So we headed out to our neighborhood creekbed with spades to see what we could find.

I got three ziplocks full.  Most of it is quartz and various types of granite, but Madeleine was excited to take three of hers to school today to share.  She came home with more playground rocks and another book she had checked out of the library.