..."create passion from simple interests", hmmmmm, kinda left brain approach to an emotional event: ie: passion. For me passion is a Let not a Make. It just happens.

I have always loved and collected pretty rocks, arrowheads, fossils, shells, driftwood,and other neat stuff up off the ground. My Mom and Sis have the gene as well. I have a yard and jars full of my collections. But my gathering was haphazard, spontaneous--- just a whimsical hobby, until I found Mona on May 10th.

Mona is a smiling (from charcoal veins) 132 pound hunk of white petrified wood. In researching petrified wood, I learned about the geology of where I live and have become passionate about learning more. I am suddenly looking at my world through brand new eyes, more informed eyes.

I am sooooo excited by my discoveries I want to pass it on and am trying to find a place in town to not only display Mona, but to diarama the fascinating formations we live amongst.

For instance those millions of plain old grey rounded cobbles of river rocks, are volcanic ash! Transformed over millions of years, but,..... To suddenly realize I was standing on converted volcanic ash blew my mind..... and has blown the minds of everybody I've told. Plus it has a cute name: greywhacky.

I have spent untold hours researching what I have been blindly not seeing for 27 years.... I can't learn fast enough to satisfy myself. I take my same old walks with eyes aglitter, hungry to spot a sample of something I just learned the name of........ PASSION. KABOOM. "It" had been hovering all around me my whole life, but just now came to roost. I guess I was ready.