Agates Close Up, Bay Update, and More

I decided to pull out my USB microscope camera and play with a few rocks. Wow. Some of the detail is incredible. In fact I had a hard time narrowing it down so I just included  few extra photos.

This first photo is of one of the eyes in the museum's original mascot agate that was on the back cover of the first agate book, Understanding and Finding Agates.



And how about that Ocean Jasper ...







Here are some close ups of the Lake Superior moss agate that a found a few Mother's Days back...



Does the agate pocket look like Lake Superior?







Here are a couple of other shots of another moss agate ...





The next two shots are of a beach fulgerite.  This fulgerite formed when lightning hit a piece of driftwood on the beach east of Grand Marais.  The energy from the lightning bolt penetrates into the sand below the log and fuses it into instant rock.





Perhaps my favorite in this group are of the chalcedony roses that I picked up in the desert of Arizona this past January.











Drusy quartz with mineral staining...



An update of the bay showing that the break wall is growing.  However, the local TV news announced that the Army Corp of Engineers has halted the second bid to complete the project.  I just tried to find the bid listing on the Army Corp web page.  I did not see it.  Thus, I am not sure what happens to the project since the Army Corps also is withholding their $1.8 million.







Here is a map showing the difference between the original break wall and the location of the new break wall.

Check out these bike helmets.  Brothers Aiden and Jacob are showing them off.