Polaroid I took of my Mom and Dad at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park (Summer of 1979)
The summer after fourth grade was an adventurous time for me. I was ten years old, and my parents had decided to drive across the United States by car to visit as many states as possible in two months. We did and saw a lot that summer, but this post is about one special highlight of that momentous trip. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is probably one of the things I remember most clearly about the whole trip. It was so beautiful there. The landscape, the wildlife, the Old Faithful geyser... I remember sitting in the back of my parents 1977 Chevy Impala as we drove through the park.. just sitting and quietly staring out the window..... soaking it all up. The road followed the shoreline of a large body of water at one point (I'm going assume that it was Yellowstone Lake, but I'm not entirely sure).
As I was looking through the trees at the lake, I spotted an adult moose wading in the clear, blue water up to his belly. When I pointed this out to my parents, my Dad quickly pulled the car over, and we all got out to explore a little. Just to have a look see from a safe distance away. Dad and I both liked to hunt for pretty rocks, so that's what I started looking for along the shoreline. It wasn't too long before I found this lovely river-polished pebble in the shallow water along the edge of the lake.
I remember my Dad being so excited and pleased with me for finding this little gem. We had no idea what it was, but it sure did look really cool. It's mostly milky translucent with some yellowish orange matter gathered all to one side of it. Dad said it looked like fish scales. Years and years later, I wondered whatever became of that little pebble. I couldn't find it anywhere among my rock collection, and I assumed that I had lost it because of it's small size. When my Dad passed away a few years ago, I found it in a small tin box in the back of his desk drawer. He must have kept it safe all those years and never told me he had it. lol <3
Yesterday, I decided to post a picture of it to a few crystal groups that I belong to on facebook because I wanted to see if anyone could identify what kind of stone it was for me. It didn't take long for me to get the answer I was looking for. Montana Agate! And a particularly beautiful specimen of it at that. I only wish that my father were still alive so I could tell him what I'd learned about it. :)
"The Montana agate is usually a creamy light yellow to almost clear color with embedded moss structures in varying shades of brownish red to black. Most of these Montana agates are found in gravel deposits from the Pleistocene age (10,000 - 1,6000,000) in the area of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries. Agates are hard stones between 6.5-8 on the Mohs scale. They take an exceptional polish and are used extensively in jewelry and carvings. Metaphysically, Montana Agate balances emotions, discerns the truth, accepts circumstances, and is a powerful emotional healer."
All this, of course, led to a flurry of online research for me. But the one thing I kept thinking about was the moose. How he had stood so majestically out in that pristine clear water all by himself, silently staring at us as we walked along the shore. He was like an ever-vigilant statue.... partially immersed in the gently flowing water that swirled around him. I know now that he was there as a guiding spirit for my Dad and I. He was a signpost, or perhaps an important life marker for us both on that pleasant, sunny day. And he was in the exact right spot for me to find a very special and lasting memento. A memento that would be presumed lost and then found again some thirty years later by me, who was grieving for a father who had just passed into the Dreaming West. Now I think I'll look up some information on the Moose as a Spirit Guide. :) You never know where your life journey will take you. From the present moment.. to the distant past... and back to the present again. <3
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