The Beauty Beneath our Feet
If you have read any of my previous posts, it’s obvious that I spend a lot of time outdoors with my dad, even at 28 years old. We have always had a shared interest in the outdoors, and we do a lot of local exploring. You would be pleasantly surprised at what we encounter within a 25-mile radius. Recently, we spent the whole day digging in the dirt at a nearby construction site and brought home a whole bag of quartz crystals! No, we don’t live in the mountains, but rather a high and mostly flat region of North Carolina called the Piedmont. Specifically, we live in Wake County, NC. I’m not a geologist, but I’m pretty sure most people don’t dig up beautiful, clear, hexagonal rocks in their backyard every day. We did have a slight advantage — heavy equipment had already dug down about 12 feet into the earth — but if it wasn’t for Dad’s observations, I don’t think we would have found them.
The construction being done is for a future highway, and the workers typically work six days a week, Monday through Friday, from sunup to sundown. Dad had been waiting until Sundays to ride his 4-wheeler down the long, muddy road, and what started out as just something fun to do, quickly turned into a mini rockhounding expedition. He noticed several quartz veins within the dark red clay. Again, I’m not a geologist or scientist of any kind so I may not be using the correct terminology, but this basically means that there is a large area of quartz that continues to develop deep into the earth, just like a vein travels along your arm or leg. Within these quartz veins are the crystals.
The vein that we were digging at had been broken up within the middle by some heavy equipment, which made it easier to establish how close the crystals were. This was the second time Dad had been to dig in this spot, but it was my first. I was hooked before we even reached the digging spot because I had already seen some large crystals he found on his own and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. I knew they weren’t very valuable and I didn’t exactly know what I was going to do with them, but it was still really fun and exciting. You must know, this happened in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, so digging for rocks was pretty much the only thing you could do anyway.
We spent about an hour digging before the sun started to go down, so we headed home to rinse off the mud and grit. We planned to go back another day when the construction workers weren’t there. But to our dismay, a few weeks later they moved a bunch a dirt around and covered up our spot before we could get back to it. We looked, but didn’t see any other areas of quartz like this one. Our rockhouding adventure was short-lived, but at least I got to spend some quality time with my father.
The best part of this whole experience was that it was free! If you wanted to mine for something like this, you would typically have to visit one of those touristy gemstone mines in the mountains and pay a high admission fee in hopes you might find a cool rock that they probably dumped there. Although, I did visit some of these places as a kid and that is when I started my own rock collection. I would say it sparked my interest in the occasional rockhouding, and it was also a great learning experience. Dad also took me to dig for my birthstone once, at Garnet Hill, near Wake Forest, NC. This is a somewhat hidden spot that doesn’t have an exact location you can find on the internet. Side note, if you want to know more about Garnet Hill’s location and what it’s like, send me a message through my site.
After our dig, I took all the crystals home and cleaned them with hot water and a toothbrush. Several of the crystals don’t look as clear as the ones you would find in a museum shop because they have ingrained dirt and iron oxide stains on them, which naturally occurs. We also emailed the natural science museum and they believe that these are actually considered Smoky Quartz Crystals, which would also explain why they aren’t as clear. The only way to get rid of these iron oxide stains is to use harsh chemicals, and I wanted nothing to do with that. Instead, I decided to turn some of my favorite crystals into ornaments to hang on my Christmas tree. I used gold gilding paint to cover up some of the iron oxide stains and give them more of a store-bought look. The light shines beautifully through the ornaments and they are somewhat of a conversation piece for around the Christmas tree.
I realize that some people may find my interests a little boring or odd, but I love it! I like to find beauty in the simple things that nature provides us. Inside my house, you will find that most of my decorations are made from things Dad or I have found. I have several driftwood centerpieces, deer antlers, old amber bottle lamps, farmhouse windows turned into mirrors, and vases of NC seashells I’ve collected. I think it gives my house a cozy, rustic feeling and reminds me of where I came from, the land of the LongLeaf Pine! As with most of the things I write about in my blog, this was just one of the many outdoor activities that bring me away from the hustle and bustle of society and closer to nature. Don’t underestimate what you can explore in and around your area; you may be in for a real surprise!
Originally published at http://overlookedpaths.wordpress.com on February 8, 2021.
