Thunder Eggs

March 1, 2018

From Bonnie:

It all started when David brought turquoise rocks into Woodcarvers and made them available to anyone present. Israel took a hammer to one big piece, and I became the recipient of a topper for my wizard walking stick. The problem was that the piece I took was too big to fit into the carved-out hole atop the stick. “Our grandson has a tumbler”, says I. Many warnings came after that statement--with a suggestion that I take the turquoise to the main senior center, the Munson Center, where it could be ground down by someone in the lapidary lab. That is where I met Jim.

“Oh no,” said Jim. “If you put this turquoise into a tumbler, it will be mud when you take it out. Thus began a lesson on rocks. He showed me a thunder egg. “A thunder egg?,” said I. “Yes,” replied Jim, “it got that name from the Native Americans. After a heavy thunderstorm and rain, the Native Americans would find these rocks in the desert, and believed that that gods had thrown them down from the sky.”

Enthralled by the story and his explanation of the rock's contents, I immediately thought of Jake and his rock collection. “Would you be willing to sell that rock to me so that that I can give it to our grandson?”, said I. He handed it to me and told me it was mine.

“We don't do money here,” said he. We trade. I owe him a wood carving next year.

Lapidary Jim