She is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her. – Proverbs 3:15

Question: What do you get when you add a remote location, a flume, a bucket-load of clay, a lot of water, tall stories, a sieve, a bunch of fun, and wildly imaginative optimism together?

Answer: More mud, more fun, buckets of discarded gravel, and – on very rare occasion – a ruby/sapphire gemstone.

Well that is what we did Friday morning, exchanging some of those tall stories with the on-site expert. My buckets yielded nothing but clay, mud, and gravel; but Rebekah caught a four and a half carrot gemstone and that is all that was needed for certified success.

It’s an interesting process. The back-hoe literally carves a pile of dirt from the side of the mountain and then people like me dredge through the mud trying to identify something that might possibly contain something potentially gem-ish.

The rest of the day unfolded with lunch at a brewery, a quiet afternoon, then heading into Cherokee for the remarkable “Unto These Hills” production – but those reflections will have to wait.

As for today – more adventures… Peace – DEREK