A little obsessed with rocks

 

Rocks out back the 'rents new condo

The tradition began when my grandmother picked up a stone in the Taj Mahal and brought it home in her suitcase. When I say "picked up a stone in the Taj Mahal" I kind of mean she took home an actual piece of the Taj Mahal. 

This is obviously highly frowned upon at best, but most likely illegal. We studiously avoided mentioning this blatant truth because my grandmother was a full-on church-goer who wore pearls and twinsets in her real life.

At some point, my grandfather got his hands on the Taj Mahal stone and wrote on it with a Sharpie - "Taj Mahal 1982." I guess the two of them were confident they could flush it down the toilet or throw it out back in the woods in the event of a raid by law enforcement.

Not sure if it was the mystical allure of the Taj Mahal, the rock, the Sharpie or the peerless combination of all three, but my pop was all in. 

Henceforth, he began to bring home rocks in his suitcase. He meticulously labels them with where they come from and the date.

My parents go a lot of places where there are rocks

There are many rocks to be collected.

When mom and pop moved from their old house into the new townhouse, they sadly had to leave behind many rocks. On the fateful day of their move, pop went outside. In the rock garden straddling the old front porch, he turned over all the rocks, so they were label-side down. 

I wonder how long it took for the new home owners to discover that these are not just your run of the mill John Doe rocks. One day they'll be out gardening and be like, wow. Somebody brought a lot of rocks home in their suitcase.

Tom and I visited this past weekend for mom's birthday and father's day and I had a moment of pure inspiration. A rock within arms reach (there is usually a rock within arms reach), had a little indentation. And of course as you might suspect, right next to my placemat on the kitchen island I encountered a small bottle of shark teeth. 

It was serendipity to the max.

shark rock.

I come from a long line of rock aficionados, so you'd expect my game would be strong.