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I have a rock tumbler (Harbor Freight, in case you want to get one), which is a great way to get into working with rocks one collects while hiking, camping, or enjoying the outdoors. These rocks just came out of my latest tumbled batch: some agate, petrified wood, and other colorful stones.
Some of the smallest pieces are translucent and colorful. Having received a book about making kaleidoscopes for Christmas, I thought those small, glassy, colorful fragments might be a nice addition to the object compartment in my kaleidoscope. Here are a few images through the kaleidoscope. All of them show rocks I collected along with beads and other items which add interest.
I have had the good fortune to visit Yellowstone National Park on more than one occasion. I had a roommate who made an annual pilgrimage to the Park on the final weekend it was open, before the winter closure takes effect. The crisp autumn air accentuates the steaming geothermal features. Elk bugle and lock horns in their dominance displays. It is not so crowded at the end of the season.
In addition to geysers, there are mud pots that bubble and roil like a pot of boiling water. Every so often a big wad of mud is hurled into the air and I dubbed those "mud frogs."
By first light, every small fumarole stands tall and magnificent.
These stark tree trunks are the remains of trees killed as the hotspot evolves and moves. Geothermal systems are not static, and when there is an earthquake some geothermal features disappear and new ones appear at the ground surface. The sentinels stand with their roots in hot mineral water and the trunk act as a wick, drawing the minerals into the wood. If you ever wondered about the origins of petrified wood, you're seeing it being created here.
