
Global Rockhound Community News Letter
Issue 15: July 2006: Editor Sally Taylor:www.rockhoundstation1.com
In this issue...Feature Fact --Bahamas Treasure Trove Update-- --- Rockhound Recipes and Tips, column --Travel: -- New Mexico- Feature Article, Serial, Metaphysics and History of Minerals, this issue, Beryl.
FEATURE FUN FACT
The oldest stone artifacts found date from between 2.52 and 6.0 million years. The artifacts, found in the Afar region of Ethiopia consist of flakes, flake fragments and cores.
These artifacts actually predate the oldest known genus Homos remains found to this date, and no other hominid remains have been found as of this date to explain who exactly it was that was making and using these tools.
***NOW ON SALE***
at the RHS1 website.

Click the image above to Discover more.
"Sally's Incredible Adventures in the Global Matrixx"
TheTrue Story
Of RHS1.org
By Sally Taylor
Rock Hound Station 1
Global Rockhound Community
TREASURE HUNTERS HEADS UP TO SUNKEN TREASURE HUNTERS AND THUMBS DOWN TO SPANISH GOVERNMENT
If you are a treasure hunter that is interested in maritime recovery, you probably know that most countries have a claim on all of their government ships found that were in that government's ownership at the time they sank.
Well, the Spanish government has decided that they own any ship that was of Spanish origin, lock, stock, and barrel including all cargo on board � even though the cargo consisted of loot pillaged from the Americas in the first place AND EVEN WHEN THE WRECKAGE WITH THE PLUNDERED LOOT IS FOUND IN U.S. WATERS!
Now they have decided that they can keep right on stealing � even though they are violating International policy to do so.
We say "THUMBS DOWN" to the continued piracy. If they want the ships back that bad, so be it � but if the treasure on board was stolen in the first place, it should go back to who ever it was stolen from. We do not need 21st century pirates!
If you are a treasure hunter and this infuriates you to know that Spain has decided to keep right on stealing the same way they did when they came to the Americas, you may want to write to your representatives and tell them enough is enough. It is time for the Spanish government to honest up a little bit. We are not the helpless Aztecs and Incas and will not stand for their pillaging and plundering of our resources and peoples any further.
Click here to see Maritime Policies
OLD CHARTER SAN SALVADOR TREASURE UPDATE
Above Image: OLD CHARTER SALVAGE, Inc
visit www.oldcharter.com
Rock Hound Station 1
Global Rockhound Community
RHS1 Club News
Well here it is summer to all us in the Northern States and most of us are spending our spare time out of doors now doing what it is we love to do best. We hope that when you make your killer finds, you will come back inside to the forums long enough to tell us what it is you found! Currently we are working on putting together some Free Reports to help you beginners get your love of rocks off the ground into a great rockhounding hobby. The first of these reports will be available real soon from the RHS1 website, so stay tuned and get ready for a summer of discovery.
I have put a notice in the forums about a project that members may opt to participate in, so check that out. It is a group project that can provide entertainment for all participants, and possibly a bit of cash as well. It will also be a great means for those of you with websites and rock hound businesses to do some terrific free advertising. If you haven't been to the forum to check it out yet, you may want to do that (after you finish reading the Connector that is!). As you have noticed, RHS1 is changing faces. We are making every effort to keep the site functional for both new and experienced rockhounds and to keep terrific new products in the shopping area for you. Notice also the page on Mars � gee, now what is that all about? Hahaha. We'll be having some special fun with that real soon.
Don't forget the RHS1 Travel Center when you plan your travel this season. We have some outrageously great prices on hotels and airfare. You might want to cruise through Edmund Scientific and National Geographic, too. They have a lot of great gadgets for the outdoors � including GPS equipment, weather and altitude watches, metal detectors, and a whole slew of inventive contraptions to make your field trips a lot easier.
That's about it for right now. Check the Forums and Gazette frequently. You never know what you will miss if you don't.
Keep on rockin' the third rock.
Sal
Rock Hound Station 1
Global Rockhound Community
New Mexico. image credit: Wikipedia
TRAVEL: South West New Mexico
For a true rockhound's vacation paradise, a trip to New Mexico can hit just the right spot. New Mexico has just about anything a rockhound could want in the field and many added attractions in town to boot.
The counties of Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, and Luna in S.W. Mexico provide a wealth of great findings for the avid rockhound and treasure hunter. These areas are rich in old mines and many types of metals including silver, gold, and copper. There are ruins that can be hunted for treasure.
Gemstone material in this area will delight the avid rockhound. A partial list of available gem material in these counties includes:
Agates of many types � banded, blue moss, black, fire, lace, and dendritic. Geodes, Petrified Wood, Amethyst, Thundereggs, Turquoise, Quartz Crystals, Jasper, Obsidian (and apache tears), Sanadine Moonstone, Fluorite, Calcite, Opal, Malachite. And the list goes on.
Symbols of the Southwest a string of chile peppers and a blanched white cow's skull hang in a market near Santa Fe.
Granite Gap Ghost Mining town, just north of Rodeo in S.W. New Mexico provides just about any entertainment that rock and treasure hunters can ask for. The areas streams can be panned for gold. The myriad mining dumps in the ghost town offer a wealth of different minerals including malachite, calcite, and turquoise. The town also provides treasure hunters with a variety of old dumps from which antiques such as old bottles can be found. The property is privately owned and the owners claim all mining objects found but do allow ten pounds of specimens free of charge. A 20% royalty has been placed on old coins. So the avid metal detector can still walk away with quite a cache. Especially if they are the lucky finders of two gold bars said to have been buried on the grounds and lost by the burier. Those who want to get out of the sun for awhile may want to tour the mines.
Rock Hound State Park in Luna County, New Mexico seems to never run out of great material for the avid rockhound. Casitas de Gila Guesthouses in the Pinos Altos mining district caters solely to the rockhound, giving each guest a private library of rockhound materials, collecting tools, a resident geologist, and a whole assortment of rockhound luxuries � including all the private and public land to hunt that a rockhound could want to travel.
For the Paleontologically minded rockhound, the deserts of New Mexico also hold a wealth of dinosaur remains to be found. Dinosaur eggs, coprolites, and gastroliths, and footprints are just a few of the remains to be found in the New Mexico deserts. Clayton Lake State Park has over 500 dinosaur tracks preserved and an interpretive walk which helps explain what you are viewing. New Mexico dinosaurs can be viewed also at the Farmington Museum in Farmington, New Mexico and at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For those of you who plan to hunt your own, please remember that collecting vertebrate fossils is illegal and remember to contact a local museum or University to find out what to do when you make a great strike.
New Mexico summers can get excruciatingly hot, so you might want to plan your trip for spring or autumn months. Wildlife includes rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and scorpions so you will want to make sure you know what to do about hunting around these creatures as well. There is also a host of less threatening wild life to enjoy in the New Mexico deserts, as well as an array of unique plant life to enjoy. For anyone with the freedom to travel to diverse locations for a rockhound holiday, you can't go wrong by planning a trip to South Western New Mexico.
Rock Hound Station 1
Global Rockhound Community
ROCKHOUND RECIPES & TIPS
July 2006 � July 4th Magic
In America, we celebrate Independence Day on July 4. Usually there is at least a three-day weekend involved. Fun in Texas usually includes, BBQ, beer and swimming. If you not want to pack a BBQ pit, cookware, and serving plates to have a picnic in the park, by the river or a lake, foil packets are the answer.
Once you know how to fold the aluminum into a packet that holds the food as it cooks to perfection, your friends will think you performed magic.
Instructions for Folding Foil Packets
Place food on a piece of heavy-duty foil. Turn the aluminum foil up on either side of the food. When the sides meet, fold down once or twice from top (like a sack lunch). Take the top and bottom of each open end, and fold the foil over once or twice. To allow for expansion, do not wrap raw food too tightly.
This packet acts as a pressure cooker unless you vent it. Do not vent packet while cooking because the steam will burn you. If you must open packet, use tongs and potholders to do so. To brown or to broil food as if you are using a frying pan, partially unfold the top seam to vent the packet.
Place the foil packet in a bed of coals and place some embers on top, carefully. If you have vented the packet, do not place embers on top, but just surround the packet. Diced vegetables and meat cook in 10 to 15 minutes, while whole potatoes cook in 40 to 50 minutes. Each recipe below will feed 12 people. All recipes may be reduced or doubled.
WATERMELON SALAD (no foil necessary)
Take a chilled watermelon and cut in half lengthwise.
Scoop out watermelon, juice and seeds. Quickly seed and cut the watermelon into chunks, placing pieces in half shell. Cover with other half shell and put aside until food is cooked. The watermelon juice, strained, makes a wonderful addition to iced tea.
SHRIMP BBQ
4 Lb. large shrimp
1 C margarine
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t black pepper
1 t salt
1 C parsley, minced
Peel and clean shrimp.
Cream margarine in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to the margarine mixture and stir.
Cut six nine-inch strips of heavy-duty aluminum foil; then cut each strip in half to make 12 pieces of foil.
Divide shrimp equally onto each piece of foil.
Top shrimp with a portion of the margarine mixture,
Fold foil in packet around shrimp.
Place shrimp packet in and cover with embers.
Cook 5 minutes.
STUFFED FISH
12 medium catch-of-the-day
3 medium onions, chopped fine
1/4 Lb. margarine
1/2 t black pepper
1 t salt
Clean the fish thoroughly.
Salt and pepper the inside of fish.
Fill each fish about 3/4 full with onion and put a pat of butter on the top of the onion.
Wrap each fish separately in aluminum packet.
Bury in hot embers.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
HAMBURGER DINNER
12 potatoes cut into chunks
12 carrots, sliced into sticks
1 large onion, diced
3 Lb. Hamburger
1/2 t black pepper
1 t salt
Form 3/4-inch-high patty using 1/4 Lb. hamburger
Place the patty on a piece of aluminum foil
Add veggies to the side of the patty.
Season with salt and pepper.
Wrap in foil and place packet in the coals.
Cook 10 to 20 minutes
BEEF STEW
3 Lb. beef cut in 1-inch chunks
12 bacon slices
12 tomatoes, quartered
6 onions, sliced thinly
Place 1/4 lb. of beef, one slice of bacon cut into pieces, one sliced onion and one quartered tomato on foil.
Form foil packet.
Place in embers.
Cook in 30 to 40 minutes
APPLE DELIGHT
12 large apples, cored and chopped into large pieces (peel or not)
4 T sugar
3/4 C Biscuit Mix
3 T cinnamon (or to taste)
Raisins or other dried fruit
Place a chopped apple on foil.
Combine one t sugar, some raisins and cinnamon to taste with one T biscuit mix.
Stir into chopped apple.
Wrap mixture in piece of greased aluminum foil, leaving a steam vent.
Cook in the embers for approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
Keep on Rocking in the Free World!
About the Author of Rocking Recipes
Eileen Trainor ("aka" CyberCelt) earns a living as a writer, webmaster, teacher and trainer. She has an advertising website, CoolAdz.com, and an RV-related site, USAer.com. The two web sites have related blogs, CoolAdzine for Marketers (cooladzine.blogspot.com) and Texas RV Travel (usaer.blogspot.com), respectively.
Live Links
Travel Tales:Advertising for Success:
CoolAdz.com
CoolAdzine.blogspot.com
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." H. Jackson Brown, Jr".
Rock Hound Station 1
Global Rockhound Community
FEATURE ARTICLE - SERIAL
METAPHYSICS AND THE HISTORY OF MINERALS
THIS MONTH'S GEM; Beryl
Birthstone: March: Aquamarine � Optional: October
May: Emerald
Zodiac: Cancer: Emerald
Scorpio: Beryl
Leo: Heliodor
Pisces: Aquamarine
Beryl is a mineral which includes several valuable gemstones. Aquamarine (light blue), emerald (green), morganite (pink), bixbite (red), goshenite (colorless), golden beryl or heliodor(yellowish green to golden) are all beryl. Dark blue beryl will be seen in jewelry stores, but these are actually light beryl crystals that have been treated with radiation. Red beryl is extremely rare.
Beryl is a hard stone, 7.50-8 on Mohs scale. Extremely large beryl crystals are common and reach sizes of up to nine meters long and up to 25 tons! Red beryl, bixbite is extremely rare and green beryl, emerald has a value that can actually top that of diamonds for good stones. Most good quality beryl stones are used as gemstones but those that are not of gem quality are still useful in industry as a source of beryllium, an alloy used in nuclear industry.
The name "beryl" comes from the Greek "beryllos" which means "precious blue green color" and was at one time associated with only those colors of stone, but over time as it was discovered that crystals of many colors were actually the same mineral, the name expanded to include all colors of beryl.
Beryl is one of the earliest used gemstones in human history. Emeralds have been cherished for over 3,000 years. Early mystics used the stone a portent of the future and the first crystal balls were fashioned from clear beryl. Romans dedicated the stone to the goddess Venus and felt it was the stone of passion and fertility. Throughout the centuries it was used to ward off evil spirits. Mariners used blue and blue/green beryl for protection from storms at sea and to aid in combating seasickness. It is also thought to aid in keeping perpetual youthfulness and to bring the wearer good luck.
Medicinally different colors of beryl are used to produce different results. Aquamarine is used for relief of swollen glands, to aid in digestion, and to help alleviate dependence on drugs. Heliodor is used to treat ailments of the digestive organs, the stomach, small intestines, liver, spleen, and pancreas. It is also used to stabilize the heartbeat. Bixbite has been thought to heal the mouth and throat, lungs, liver, and heart and to help fight fatigue and promote a strong energy level.
Beryl in general is thought to be rejuvenating and helps to retain youthfulness.
Metaphysically, different forms of beryl are used to achieve different results. In general beryl is thought to attract good luck. Colorless beryl is an aid to seeing the future. Red beryl is thought to promote creativity, promote harmony in relationships, and aid against depression or grief. It is connected with the heart and sacral chakras. Heliodor is thought to promote sympathy and sincerity, heighten communicative skills and raise intuitive levels, and help to engender compassion. It is also an aid in warding off laziness. Aquamarine promotes inner peace by dissolving anger and negativity. It is an aid in meditation, strengthening emotional and metal stability and balance and builds courage.
A gift of beryl can mean many things depending on the color of the gift, but all beryls are a gift of luck and strength of relationships.
Common Beryl
images credit:Roger Weller, Cochise College:
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