Rock Shop

When I was a kid, one of my favorite places to stop while traveling across the country was a rock shop. There was usually just an old building or a rickety shack that had a hand made sign out front. It seems that the best shops were those in the middle of nowhere. Oh wait, we were always in the middle of nowhere. Daddy would pull in and we would hop out of the car. Inside, there were bins and bins of rocks of all kinds and colors. The more expensive rocks were kept in a glass case. Some shops had racks of stones made into jewelry. I would turn the racks slowly and look at the earrings and necklaces. My favorites were those made out of moss agates. It was hard to choose which rocks and stones I wanted to buy with the few coins in my pocket but every time I left the rock shop, my little bag would be full.

There were times we stopped at a roadside stand where we could “mine” for sapphires, garnets or other gems. We would buy a bag of dirt that had been taken from a mine. We were guaranteed to find some kind of gem. Sapphire dirt was more expensive. Sometimes we could even find Yogo Sapphire dirt. I didn’t have enough money for that.

When my kids came along, I wanted them to have the opportunity to experience rock shops, too. It seems that the wayside rock shops are not as easy to be found now.

The other day, Maud and I drove through the little Montana town of Bynum. The population of Bynum is 37, excluding dogs and dinosaurs. Yes, it is dinosaur country. It doesn’t take but a few seconds to drive through Bynum. As I drove, I saw an old building that looked like a church up ahead. When I got closer I said, “I have to stop here.” I wheeled in to the gravel lot that stuck half way out on the side street and skidded to a stop. There was a sign on the side of the building that said, “Trex Agate Shop, Since 1937.” Two words caught my eye, Trex and Agate. Dinosaurs and stones!

We walked in the door of the shop and there were rocks – bins of rocks. There were fossils, bones and skeletons. There were agates, and there were bags of dirt – garnet dirt and sapphire dirt. There were glass cases with the more expensive stones. Inside the cases was jewelry of all kinds. Turquoise necklaces with exquisite artistic design in silver were in one case, agates in another. On the tops of the glass cases were little racks of jewelry. I guess you know what I did. I went over and turned the racks slowly to look at the earrings and necklaces made from the agates and precious stones.

We were greeted by an elderly gentleman who truly loves his job. I asked about the building. It had been a church and then a school. The building had stood there for 103 years. It got its first inside bathroom after 102 years. Yep, it has only had inside plumbing for 1 year. We talked with the man for a while. He is a genuine asset to the little shop and to the community. We left the shop reluctantly but we had a bag of treasures that included a tiger’s eye and a bag of sapphire dirt.

As I walked out the door my little bag was full. I pulled the strings tight on my little bag of memories. Maud & Me had a good day!