Dear Doug and List:
Doug your post was exquisite! I love the idea of
being a "meteorite maiden in the most beautiful moment
of ageless enthusiasm". And now with the generosity
of the meteorite community I am about to plunge into
the world beyond as a true meteorite collector. I
couldn't have imagined that my post would bring about
a first meteorite that would be a gift, so I am
greatful beyond words. It truly is the "bestest first
meteorite" and had to have been brought about by
destiny as I see no other reason it could have worked
out this way.
I'd like to thank all of you who do the exciting but
hard work of finding these incredible rocks and then
the tricky task of distribution. This is such a
diverse group of people, I feel extremely priviledged
to be a part of the list and to be welcomed into the
community.
Thanks to everyone for your recommendations on first
purchases, I will be following up on those with some
purchases from various people on this list.
Extremely Thankful,
Rhonda Rose
--- mexicodoug <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear Rhonda and List friends,
>
> This was one topic that was (for me) really not
> meteorite related at all,
> that is, until this thoughtful post. No one asks
> why there are so few women
> coin collectors, train spotters, or chess players,
> yet so many women
> beachcombers, molecular biologists, and knitters...
> Nor where are the
> sub-Saharan African or Asian mainland collectors ...
>
> ...but what you said is universal. To some degree
> most appreciative owners
> of meteorites start out and still remember if they
> are fortunate (and most
> do: to the point of reveling in the romance of that
> memory). I hope you
> won't mind if I call you a meteorite maiden in the
> most beautiful moment of
> ageless enthusiasm. There is nothing wrong with
> never having a meteorite
> until the time is right. I'd like to share my
> experience with this:
>
> The first meteorite IS just like the first kiss -
> special, elevating, and a
> unique moment of happiness to be treasured forever.
> My first time was from
> an aging hunter who placed it in my trembling and
> hands as he said: "This is
> a meteorite. This is the fusion crust, this is the
> interior and these are
> chondrules, and I picked this up after I heard it
> falling from the night sky
> many kilometers away." He also had a moldavite
> which he told me: "this, too
> is a meteorite, but it is made of glass." I took it
> in my sweaty hands and
> tried to hide my emotions, but I couldn't. We met
> in a cafe and one by one
> he unwrapped and showed me his space treasures and I
> handed them back after
> embarrassingly long gazes into these rocks which,
> could really have been
> anything, but this was an honest person and still as
> enthusiastic as the day
> he began over 30 years before. That's when he
> picked up the fresh and rare
> specimen shortly after its fall.
>
> I still remember I was so impressed that when two
> pieces were backed up in
> this wondrous show and tell, I refused a third, just
> to take care that he
> would know that I was careful and that none of his
> meteorites would get
> misplaced or walk away and assure him I was
> respectful of unearthly
> collection. I remember how he handled these briskly
> enough to make me
> nervious that something terrible should befall them,
> yet I was so concerned
> should the most minor spec get separated from one.
> My favorites were two:
> The moldavite, and the one he picked up freshly
> fallen.
>
> I dawdled longest with my prolonged staring at
> these, trying to look
> intelligent, but blissfully ignorant and just unable
> to fathom how fortunate
> I was to be sitting in his company in that cafe with
> his space treasures and
> stories wrapped in newspapers pulled out of a little
> bag. As I handed the
> exquisitly sculpted moldavite back (which,
> incidentally had been a gift from
> Mr. DuPont), I paused just a little bit longer to
> get the chondrite he found
> in the right light for a last goodbye, and then the
> moment came to surrender
> it, tenderly cupped in my hand. My "mentor", a man
> who I had never met
> before and had just invited out for coffee closed my
> hand around the tiny
> specimen and said he would very much like that I
> kept it, and thanked me
> profusely for the cup of coffee and slice of cake.
>
> I could not believe this and at first I couldn't
> accept something so special
> but the more he insisted the more inside myself this
> warm feeling welled up
> inside as I realized I was actually going
