Mike from RockhoundingAR.com – Hello Arkansas! Lapidary/Rockhounding
Dear Gary,
My website came into existence because my wife, its webmaster, gave me the domain name of RockhoundingAR.com as a birthday present a few years ago. At that time I had been working for the Arkansas Geological Commission as a geologist and staff mineralogist for several years, and it just seemed like the natural extension of things I enjoyed doing….talking about Arkansas minerals and trying to get out accurate information about collecting minerals in Arkansas.
My first experience in writing anything for the internet began after I met the webmaster of Bob’s Rockshop at Tucson, Arizona about 10 years ago. He was just starting up his website and was looking for contributions of articles. So, I volunteered to do an series of articles for him on Crystallography. Well, it took me about 18 months to get the articles and graphics together (my wife did the graphics, some of which are animated) for what turned out to be a very popular 9-part series. It was aimed at beginning college mineralogy students, whom I had discovered were not being as well trained in Crystallography as I was when in college. One lapidary club in California was given my permission to copy it onto a CD-ROM for their faceting class to help them learn how to orient gemstones!
The RockhoundingAR website underwent several phases and changes over the years. A major reorganization when we got our own domain, and for a short while an attempt was made to get commercial funding through some of the local rockshops. But now it has reached maturity. It is arranged somewhat like a book…into Chapters or sections….Quartz and collecting, cleaning, trimming, grading, and properties….Other minerals in Arkansas…..Famous mineral localities in Arkansas…..General Geology of Arkansas…..Some selected Arkansas field trip info…..Kids educational materials and activities, like growing your own crystals….and some info suitable to assist scouts in earning geology merit badges….also a Question and Answer section. A listing of Rock Collecting clubs in the state…and a short link list.
As to my favorite field trip…..It’s hard to pick just one….but memories flood back to me of early years collecting quartz crystals around Hot Springs, my home town, and long summer days hunting the creeks and outcrops of Magnet Cove. Also, trips with friends from Michigan to look for smithsonite in long abandoned underground mines in north Arkansas. And not least, several years of trips with an informal group of mineral collectors who call themselves the Coon Creek Association….trips, camping, and the pleasant times with them to many sites across central Arkansas now no longer available. Also, one memorable trip to Jeffery Quarry in central Arkansas where I and two good friends spent the night collecting quartz crystals in a large pocket while the snow fell in late December of 1979!
Today I continue to have an interest in minerals from Arkansas and have been lucky enough to have a job where I could write a book for the state geological survey on the minerals of Arkansas. It was published in 1987. I am presently updating it and going to add color photography to the revision. I recently set up a showroom in one of the rooms in my basement and have many of my specimens displayed for visitors to see.
It would also be hard for me to pick my favorite specimen…. I would say though that any really nice quality aesthetic mineral specimen from Arkansas gets my blood moving! And seeing a new species that I am not familiar with that has been discovered in Arkansas is the best!
My present interests include not only Arkansas minerals, but also motorcycling, watching classic boxing matches on tv, grilling most anything outside, and learning how to eat healthier since I was recently diagnosed as a Type II diabetic. In the past 6 months I have lost 60 of the 80 pounds my doctor told me to lose, so I am well on my way to a healthier lifestyle.