LLC WINTER 2012
By LCGross
ockhounds come in all ages, gender and political persuasion. Although skill is involved, it is not necessary in the beginning. You simply have to like hunting for rocks in unlikely places and under adverse conditions. Bring passion to the hunt and the rest will follow: knowledge of the universe and your very own rock collection which you can share with others. I know this, because my mother was ‘one.’ During our frequent trips between Texas and Kansas or Colorado in the ‘60s to visit the grandparents, mother would suddenly spot some outcropping of rocks rising out of a grassy field which to her trained eye promised a virtual gold mine of discovery. Turning to a passel of slumbering kids in the back of our stationwagon-turned-kid camp, she would implore us to pile out of the car and follow her across an open field to the top of the outcropping to hunt for rocks.
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Boyce Thompson: Wildflowers
Rockhounds, Continued on page 26
Page 5
Silver Lullaby:
Silver Lullaby, Continued on page 8
kson
By LCGross
Danny Jac
Turtles by nature aren’t especially By Darin Lowry pretty things – interesting perhaps, what with God’s inherent skill in detail and nuance, but hardly a creature many artists strive to capture in their medium of choice. Enter Danny Jackson, a fortyfive year old Navajo silversmith from Chinle, Arizona, who will tell you flat out and upfront that he loves this particular reptile. “Desert turtles are known for good luck and long life – this is a universal belief in all tribal cultures – and they’re rare to see,” he says. Danny works in what is known as the ‘shadowbox’ style (two layers of silver are joined: the back piece is acid washed, creating a black background; the piece in the forefront is curved, cut and stamped) and the resulting jewelry pieces, turtles included, glow with a deep, ethereal calm. “I wanted to make something others didn’t. Everyone else was doing flat pieces, or adding stones.”
Greater Hand I had heard about St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery (located just south of Florence) years ago, and I finally made the time to visit it in June 2011. Although I am not Orthodox, the visit was a spiritual experience for me in much the same way any place of serene beauty confirms the presence of a Greater Hand at work in the universe. The monastery is out in the desert and seems to be an unlikely spot for such beauty since the desert south of Florence is a fairly non-descript flat expanse of the Sonoran Desert. You’ll see a lot of greasewood, shrub brush, and cholla cactus, but that’s about it. However, the monastery compound stands out because of the various kinds of stately palm trees that grace the grounds and its orchards and olive groves.
St. Anthony's, Continued on page 10
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Frank Balaam Page 16
A Long History of Caring for History Page 22