Today my wife and I drove out to Yelm which is about 20 miles southeast of Olympia. The reason, my wife is a closet rock hound and the Nisqually Valley Rockhound Society was holding a rock and gem show at Yelm Middle School. I have to admit I walked in there the newbie so to speak. My wife can tell you the name and origin of about 90% of what was there, where I can only identify a few common rocks. Out in the parking lot there were the typical traveling retired couples with their displays set out along side their RV's, then inside the school's gym were the rest of the vendors with their goods beautifully displayed with bright lights showing off the many colors and varieties. Besides this magnificent amethyst we brought home tiger's eye, a large quartz crystal, a selenite crystal, red jasper, iron zebra jasper and a signed book on gem trees. Toward the end, I think I figured out why I was along as I ended up carrying the bag of rocks. I now lean to the right and have one arm longer than the other.