Sept 10, 2014: Petosky Stones

May be hard to believe but Michigan has things stranger than the Monster clan... really.

One of them is the Petosky Stones, named for the city of Petosky where they're most abundant. Actually they can be found over most of the state because they were pushed around by the glaciers during various ice ages. They come is a variety of colors and surface textures but they have the hexagonal structure in common. Huh?



They all have that hexagonal structure because they all started out as rugose coral, about 350 million years ago. The coral's live gooey bits inside the stiffer, although not hard, structure, were replaces with minerals, fossilizing the coral into genuine rock. The infilling with minerals is why the variety of colors, depending on what minerals filled in. Sort of how petrified wood forms.



If you'd like a Petosky stone of your own, and can't convince Monster to run out and find one, and then polish it of course, just tell Google you want to buy one. I saw stones online, polished and raw, for as cheap as $17, and $25 for a piece 3-1/8" x 2-5/8"x 5/8" thick.

Here a link, there a link, everywhere a link link.

Cool as cool can be.

WOW! Those are so amazing! I love these! Now I just gotta have one, or two, or a whole pile of 'em would be good! Yes!

Jeez peeps, these are two-a-penny. probably have them knocking about in my garden, definitely some on the porch, could probably mail you some! Isn't it funny what you come to take for granted? Almost every garden round here has Petosky stones in it. We all bring them back from the shores of Lake Superior then get bored with them and toss them in the yard, they're pushed around by southern Michigandans going "Up North" these days.

Next time I go up north (prob not til next summer now) I'll keep an eye out for small, mailable ones for all y'all

I realize this dates me. . . However, are these distant cousins to "Pet Rocks" that visited us several decades ago? They must be uptown cousins as opposed to the country style.

to me, they look like the hippy cousins of the pet rocks, with their tie-dyed appearance

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Tye-dyed rocks! That is too funny BigV! Nah we didn't get any fancy ones like that at the local Value Mart. They had those Pet Rocks displayed under a warming lamp - like they would with Mexican Jumping beans, or how they do with baby chicks! Hey XOXOXOBruce, Thanks for hipping us to cool-ass stuff we might never know about. I'm thinking a field trip is in order here and we can start at Monster's backyard and progress from there, make it a world-wide effort. We all need to get out more and see this stuff, and say things we shouldn't, and then just laugh ourselves silly! Oh and yeah - I really do want one of these fine tye-dyed Petosky stones... yes I do!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketGirl I'm thinking a field trip is in order here and we can start at Monster's backyard and progress from there, make it a world-wide effort.

Maybe it's a girl thing, but I'm digging them rocks too. :-D

Grav and I are with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Nope, can't stay at Monsters. She puts everyone within earshot into training for the Olympics, or at least the PanAm Games. You'd have a printed training schedule for the next month in you hand before you could get your boots off. I heard the banana lady (MIL) won't come back, because last time she was doing pushups on the lawn at 5 AM, she caught pneumonia. But that's just a rumor.

Compressed into Petoskey stones?

They'll stone you when you're trying to be so good
They'll stone you just like they said they would
They'll stone you when you're trying to go home
They'll stone you when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned


Uh, I mean, Yes Mistress.

Hadn't thought of that song in a long time.

Oooh, have to ask my big brother about those rocks. I want one. And he can get me one, being Grand Poobah of Rocks and Things, for our state anyway. I'm sure he can get me one from MI if he doesn't already have some. His house is lousy with rocks. Lousy, I tell you.