Around late March, my partner gets a particular gleam in his eye. Sailing season is fast approaching. (And by fast approaching, I mean the boat goes into the water on May 1. Fast is often a relative term in the context of sailing.) He’s spent the winter dreaming up new projects and hunting down obscure solutions to last year’s persistent problems. His enthusiasm is infectious, and by the time you’re reading this, we’ll have had our first overnight trip on Lake Superior for the year. On this trip I’ll be able to indulge in my own niche hobby: rock hunting.
My lifelong interest in agates was informed by an early introduction to
Duluth’s beaches and summers spent combing the shore at my family’s
cabin on the St. Croix River. Recent sailing trips across Lake Superior have
expanded my collection to include Michigan fossils and geode-studded basalt. I’ve found that one of the most interesting conversations you can have with
someone is about their hobbies, which is why I found Alexandra Tostrud’s
story about speed p
