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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Fossils

fossil - The remains or imprint of an organism from a previous geologic time. A fossil can consist of the preserved tissues of an organism, as when encased in amber, ice, or pitch, or more commonly of the hardened relic of such tissues, as when organic matter is replaced by dissolved minerals. Hardened fossils are often found in layers of sedimentary rock and along the beds of rivers that flow through them.
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I mentioned in a post a while back that when I was young, we used to collect fossils. Some people said they would like to see them, so here are a few pictures.

I lived on a farm when I was growing up, so there was lots of space for us to run around and things to discover. One of our favorite things was to go out in the fields where there was a creek running. Along the creek was a stoney hill that didn't have any grass growing on. We would sit on the side of that hill and search for these fossils. It took some time, because they were small, but we would always come home with a handful. They were great for show and tell at school!


Before my Dad sold the farm I went out and collected these ones to save. I'm glad I did because the property is now commercialized with several stores and the hill is bulldozed.


Here's a close up so you can see how small they are. Seeing them brings back fun memories of things I did as a child and makes me realize how lucky I was to live where I did and
be able to have that farmland to run and play on.



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23 comments:

He Knows My Name said...

yes you were very lucky indeed! some of those are tiny and why all the holes in the middle of them?

i thought of you last night cooking for today. i made a tuna casserole. the reason is the tuna recipe came to me at my wedding shower along with the chicken popover recipe you make that i've yet to make. hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine and warm :) temps. ~janel

Unknown said...

Those are pretty cool, has anyone ever told you what they are fossils of???

Jean said...

How interesting!! Have you ever shown them to a fossil expert?

Mari said...

We have always thought they were plant fossils and maybe the holes are because they were plant stems. I really don't know and I don't know how we would find a fossil expert.

Bonnie said...

you'd google yourself a fossil expert ... that' how !! I remember going on a field trip to look for fossils one time. Don't remember if we found any though ! It was a long time ago !

A Stone Gatherer said...

That is so cool Mari! I should show you some fossils we found up north! I have great memories of living on the farm too! It's a great way to be raised, out in the country!!!

Diane said...

I lived in a country too - we had a creek running along the back of our property. We'd look for all sorts of treasures along there. I don't remember any fossils but I know we found a lot of really old bottles and other "junk". That was a lot of fun!!

Terri said...

I wish I would have got some of them before the farm was sold too! I don't think we realized how lucky we were to live there, did we?

Cheri said...

You guys had all the fun before I was old enough to do it too!
Wow- I must be alot younger than you huh- hee hee!

Shelly said...

That is so neat to hear the memories of what you use to do. Being able to run around and do stuff like that. Not all kids can enjoy that nowadays. Plus, some kids could care less because of all the technology they want to play with. I am glad my kids like to do outdoor stuff like we did when we were younger.

Shelly said...

That is so neat to hear the memories of what you use to do. Being able to run around and do stuff like that. Not all kids can enjoy that nowadays. Plus, some kids could care less because of all the technology they want to play with. I am glad my kids like to do outdoor stuff like we did when we were younger.

Sandra said...

Those are so cool Mari, thanks for sharing :)

Rebekah said...

growing up we used to spend a lot of time at the creek by my Grandmas. We found lots of arrow heads and other such treasures.
Your post reminded me of how much fun we had

Cherdecor said...

I had our in house scientist look at these and Chad says that they are
Crinoids.

They are stems and cross sections of stems.

These are so NEAT!

Anonymous said...

My daughter would LOVE to live on a farm like that, with space to explore and have lots of pets. I hope her dreams will come true one day. Sounds like you had a wonderful childhood!

Cool fossils.

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

Mari,

I just love that you saved these. Where do you have them now?

I think you shold put them out in a pretty glass dish or bowl for peple to see.

Laura said...

I didn't remember the weird shapes they were in. They are pretty cool. Too bad it's gone now so you won't be able to take your grandkids there...

Dena said...

dude - they look like parts off of a tractor or something to me!

Anonymous said...

This post was so fun! My husband loved that photos of the fossils.

I grew up right by HC Middleschool. We had the big field behind our house which is now the baseball fields. We had so much fun playing and having adventures out in that field.

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to "find" a fossil...maybe someday!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Beth Cotell said...

That's really cool! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Wow---they are tiny.

Where do you have them displayed?

Mari said...

I hate to tell those of you that asked about displaying them, that they are in a cupboard in an old pill bottle. I guess I'll have to change that!