Field Journal Entry #41 — “Fire in the Stone”

Mineral Wonders always feels like stepping into the Earth’s workshop.

Today I hiked along a ridge where volcanic ash once buried an entire forest. The petrified wood here glows with colors you don’t expect from something that used to be alive — cobalt blues, honey yellows, deep reds like embers.

I found a fragment with a vein of quartz running through it. When the sun hit it just right, it sparked like a tiny star trapped in stone.

I held it up and thought about the heat and pressure that forged it. The violence. The beauty. The patience.

Deep time isn’t gentle. But it is generous.