Fieldtrip

Today Erin went on a geology fieldtrip with Chris. When they came home, Erin immediately began to sort through about 50 pounds of rocks that she had brought back. As she was doing that, Chris told me about her day spent rock-hopping the Maine coast with a bunch of geologists. "Did she learn anything?" I asked. He shrugged noncommittally, "I don't know, she was just going all day, not really stopping to listen." (Let's face it, she is 7 and she was with a bunch of professional geologists. *I* don't usually listen on those trips either!)

"Here, Mom!" Erin yelled as she took a beautiful black, white and red rock from the bag, "This one is for you! I liked it because of the feldspars in it. See? This is the feldspar and the white around it is because it cooled at a different temperature." (pause, pulling out another rock) "And look at this one--see the different color? Same mineral, different temperature. Oh, and I was able to identify some areas in the rocks today with different veins and tell which layers came first based on which veins were crossed over. I'm getting pretty good at that, I tell ya!"

Chris and I looked at each other..."Never mind," he said, "I guess she was listening!"

I think I may have lost this child to the geologists. Later, I taught Megan to say, "Whatever, Dad, they are just rocks!"