Rocks on the mind

Avenue Flashes

Jefferson County Fairgrounds, right here in Golden.

This show is way more than just a place to buy and sell rocks and gems. They have loads of educational activities going on all weekend that include things like live lapidary demonstrations showing how to facet stones and the basics of Cabochon Cutting, which is one of the most popular techniques to cut gems. They have a room they call the “bat cave” for fluorescent rocks complete with folks there to talk about them in detail. How much detail? Uhm, the presentation is called “A Brief History of Fluorescence and Phosphorescence before the Emergence of Quantum Theory by Bernard Valeur and Mario N. Berberan-Santos, Journal of Chemical Education.” I think they are going to tell you a little bit more than just that they glow in the dark.

There’s also going to be someone there demonstrating geode cutting, other experts on hand that can identify rock specimens you might bring in to show them plus over 30 beautiful and educational displays from the Sherman Dugan Museum, Dinosaur Ridge and many others, featuring Colorado minerals, fossil firsts from Jefferson County, cut gems, jewelry, stone carvings, geodes, the Bear Creek Meteorite and more.

And, speaking of meteorites, there’s also an entire display featuring about 75 of them found in Colorado with people from the Colorado Meteorite Society (bet you didn’t know that existed, did you?) on hand to talk about them all.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the one thing people flocked to this area in the first place to discover. Gold! Yes, there will even be a booth set up where you can learn to pan for gold in our local streams.

Plus, you can vote for your favorite display case to be awarded the coveted People’s Choice Award. Your vote will also enter you into a drawing to win great prizes.

Of course there will also be about

Becoming and remaining part of a group is more than a choice. It is a demand of the human psyche. For all the blather about individualism, a tenet of secular American religiosity, belonging is the dominant human social gene. It is as instinctive to human behavior as walking, eating, and copulating. In fact, individualism is not part of the human social genome. It is a relatively modern idea, a philosophy, a choice birthed during the Age of Enlightenment.

More than we need to belong, we want to belong. Belonging to a group fosters good mental health and social cohesion, which is requisite for survival. Unbelonging induces loneliness, which leads to despair. One of the worst punishments that can be imposed on someone for not following a group’s rules is banishment or ostracization. Whether political exile, solitary con nement, or shunning, forced separation from a group or society can cause deep distress and potentially irreparable harm. While some groups wither away, others last long after current members move away or die. Groups —

JERRY FABYANIC Columnist

families, religions — are greater than the sum of their parts and thus hold an even more dominant grip on their members. If and when a member separates from the group, there can be hell to pay for it. at is especially true with cults.

Groups like school classes that are formed by happenstance and have a select, nite number of speci c members gradually wither away as nature takes her course. Others like the local Elks or Hotrod Club might or might not fade away when members move on. Friendship groups formed organically eventually die too.

Choosing to detach from a group can be excruciating because the group, whether social or religious, holds power over the individual, and it never likes when a member says, “Tata. Time to go.” Leaving a group is considered the worst form of heresy.

A good friend posed this question

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To subscribe call 303-566-4100 to me: “Why do we often hang on to a group after we realize that remaining part of it no longer serves a good purpose and is, therefore, not good for our social or mental health?” en he added, “It’s the moment when you really admit something no longer works for you. It evolves slowly and you feel it coming. en you nally admit it and know it. You continue anyway because whatever it is—group, activity, people—it brought you happiness in the past. You hang on despite the payo being minimal or even negative. But you continue. Why? No good alternatives? Force of habit? Don’t want to o end? And all the time, your inner core continues to melt because you are not being true to yourself and nding new things like you used to.”

25 high quality vendors there with lots of different thing for sale including hand crafted jewelry, gems, fossils, various minerals and even chunks of meteorites.

And the best part? Admission and parking are free!

The DGMG Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show will be open from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday as well as from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Jefferson County Fairgrounds is located at 15200 W. 6th Avenue in Golden.

For more information, visit denvergem.org/february-show/.

This is a great place for a family outing that entertains and educates at the same time. Some of the specimens you’ll see there are amazing. So, check it out. Maybe it will put some rocks in your head a for a while too.

John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also is president of John Akal Imaging, professional commercial photography and multimedia production. He can be reached at jaimaging@aol.com.

Hmm, I thought. Yes, all of those, and possibly more.

One of my favorite lms is Brokeback Mountain, a story about two young cowboys — more accurately, sheepherders — who fall passionately in love. From the outset, you have a sense, and even know, that the story will not have a happy end-

MINDY NELON Marketing Consultant mnelon@coloradocommunitymedia.com ing given it is set in Wyoming in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. ey tear at each other in frustration, but they can’t seem to end — quit — the relationship. ey are full of angst about it, and that is relatable to almost everyone, whether in the context of a one-on-one relationship or a group. Ending a relationship is di cult.

I don’t have a good answer for my friend other than to say we should step back and note the power and attraction of both the groups you would like to separate from and the ones you want to stay in. en work to sort out why you want to separate from the ones you want to leave instead of focusing on the challenge of detaching. It’s like breaking an addiction. e rst step is to recognize the problem. e second step is to note the emotional attachment to it. If it doesn’t feel good, why keep doing it? at is when the power of choice come into play.

Time to move on.

Jerry Fabyanic is the author of “Sisyphus Wins” and “Food for ought: Essays on Mind and Spirit.” He lives in Georgetown.

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