a thunderstorm
before that same
flooded.
creek
The Woodward
Ranch had the
distinction of last-
ing four genera-
tions before being
sold, and is now
closed to rock
hunters.
Luckily, there
are others who
have been cap-
tured by the mys-
tical realism and
rugged landscape
of the desert, to
carry on. Paul
Graybeal is a ded-
Balmorhea Rock Shop owners, Jim and Sue Franklin
icated club leader
organizing the CDGMC. My husband
and moved to West Texas to work at
and I joined them on a rock hunting
the McDonald’s Observatory telescope
trip. We did not bring enough water
in1989. He grew up in the South
so Trey gave us his. When his truck’s
Dakota Black Hills and claims that he is
radiator ran dry, he borrowed my
one of the “genetically predisposed
husband’s shovel and dug a hole in the
people to know what malachite is.” He
“dry creek bed” and it was not long
was finishing an Associate’s degree in
before the water flowed. I listened to
electronics when he answered an
stories of Trey’s childhood when he
advertisement for help with the tele-
gathered agate with his sister and
scope in Ft. Davis. During the week he
dad, loading mules and trying to beat
fixed anything that needed fixing at the
facility, and then packed up early on
the weekends to explore the desert,
gathering local lore and agates along
the way. Eventually Paul moved to
Marfa and started Moonlight
Gemstones in 1989, in an existing rock
shop. “When I collected 100 pounds of
agate, my whole life changed,” he said.
He has been collecting agate since 1985
and uses the best lapidary-grade agate
he can find in his jewelry.
Some of the members grew up in
the area, such as Jim Franklin, whose
father was a cowboy in the Marathon
area wrangling horses in the
Chihuahuan desert. His wife, Sue, a lit-
tle girl from Ohio, grew up looking at
fossils and shells she found discarded in
her grandmother’s back yard. As an
adult, Sue moved to California where
she gravitated to the beach and found
inspiration putting shells together, to
make owls and little animals. Sue con-
tinues her passion for learning now in
the desert, running the Balmorhea
Rock Shop with Jim, offering custom
slabbing, tumbling and polishing.
When you find rocks in the rough, one
will want “to see rocks cut because it
will look totally different; if dry, it still is
not as pretty until it is polished,”
exclaims Sue. Of course, a spray can of
clear, gloss lacquer could be used, but
that is like adding clear nail polish to
shells: it works, but where is the magic
and mystery of discovery?
The club no longer combines the
show with rock hunting trips, but if you
are determined to find your own mysti-
cal realism, attend the show and meet
the people who could start you down
the path.
Do not pass it up…it gives new
meaning to “bucket list.” Oh, and the
difference between green and blue
turquoise? Inquiring minds want to
know: turquoise is hydrous basic phos-
phate of copper and aluminum; it may
contain some iron…so if you really
want to “dig” into the facts, it becomes
more intriguing to discover that the
color is given by the ratios of copper to
aluminum; an accidental touch of
nature that man cannot control, only
enjoy. By the way, experts tell me
turquoise comes from mines in
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and
old Mexico as well as the Battle
Mountain and Tonopah areas in
Nevada. Sounds like a road trip to me!
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Cenizo
First Quarter 2015
23