Gem aGem and Mineral Shownd Mineral Show

My daughter and son-in-law had already made their purchases at the Gem and Mineral Show in Springfield the day before…but she offered to make another visit with us. I took a few pictures around her yard (holly berries, rose blooming, surface roots of a dying maple, lichen on the trunk of the dying maple) before she emerged from her house.

Walking around the show did not take long since I was not buying a lot; we got there shortly after opening and before the crowds too. It was interesting to see the myriad of items from vendors.  

My daughter and my husband didn’t buy anything at the show. I found a vender with petrified wood (from private land near Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona); one of the pieces had lines that looked like tree rings…and the color was more similar to wood too. I bought it to add to my tree materials.

I also bought a small bowl that was petrified wood…which I will use for bar soap!

When we got back to my daughter’s house, we went in to see their new lighting in their mineral cabinets. My two favorite items (armadillo dermal bone and shells) were biological. But the lighting was good on them too!

I did a few photographs of the specimens though the glass cases and there was a lot less glare from the lighting!

Learning about Missouri Geology – April 2025

In late March – after the monthly Missouri Geology post, my daughter and I visited Cedar Gap Conservation Area. I posted about the vegetation (spring wildflowers) and the tail itself here and saved the ‘rock’ pictures for this post. Most of the pictures are from along the trail.

The most interesting rock of the trip was found down near the stream by my daughter; I’m not sure how she found it in the jumble of rocks!

The geology lab for Missouri Master Naturalists that was a follow up to the geology program I’d arranged for last February focused on minerals. There were 8 sets of trays with a total of 24 minerals and we practiced the process to identify them! It was a learning experience. I realized that there might have been a better class for learning to id rocks and minerals than the geology course I am taking….and it is for educators (not sure that non-degree seeking students can take it).

Last week my daughter and I visited Onondaga Cave and Bennett Springs State Park….I’ll be posting about that trip soon. Both had a geology component too.