A small triangular piece of white material like a tiny SOS signal peeked out of the closet door. I tugged and more was exposed. The door popped open, This was not surprising to me-nothing was off limits at this place. Disappointingly the paper read only"Caution-Wet Floor". Emboldened, I began opening the other doors, their wooden grain and hard won patina reminded me of a Victorian Curiosities display case. Behind the second bank of doors was more cleaning supplies, but the third revealed several boxes with glued seams bulging and broken. I intuitively knew what I would discover in these containers-the smell, dusty, gritty and old gave it away. It was a rock collection. I stuck my hand into the closest box. I felt something smooth like a mirror with a layer of dried sea water on it. It felt like a table top thick and large. It was dark in the cupboard as I groped the slab. Without question I knew it was mica. I took it out and exposed it daylight, maybe for the first time in years or even decades. I peaked into the neighboring box and touched a rectangular piece of soft powdery feeling material-hard yet soft- again I identified it in my minds eye before bringing it into sight. I continued through a few more sample boxes. Pleased yet surprised with my extrasensory skills. It seems a cruel irony I can remember things from 45 years ago as though they they are part of my cellular make up, but ask me for this level of savant recall of current information and all bets are off. My friend, an avid birder, always attributes her encyclopedic recall of all things ornithological to "time at task". My rock collecting and enthusiasm for all things geological in my childhood was central to my experience. It was supported by my parents and extended family. My grandmother had an extensive exotic collection-very black light friendly. Mine was a home grown collection of specimens indigenous to upstate NY garnet, mica, horn blend-the crown jewels. Marble, granite, gypsum more the the bedrock of the collection.
I happened into a field near my grandmother's house of several layers of marine fossils. One sits in my bird bath today inviting bathers in to the water. I still have every one of my rocks from my youth, I feel bad shutting the cupboard door on these rocks, the neighbors and family to my own.
