The
other day I posted a ms. on some rare barium silicates, sanbornite and
macdonaldite, collected from the Big Creek/Rush Creek sites in California (25
June 2020). With time on my hands I
continue examining odds and ends in my collection. It turns out that I actually had another barium
silicate from Big Creek/Rush Creek area in my collection that I missed the
first time, a barium iron silicate, gillespite [BaFeSi4O10].
Idioms
for everyone!
· With time on my hands [the origin of
the idiom 'time on your hands' isn’t known; what scholars do know, though, is
that this saying is an old one. The earliest printed example available is from
Charles Lamb’s 1833 Last Essay of Elia: “It seemed to me that I had more time
on my hands than I could ever manage.” credit to: Gingersoftware.com.
· odds and ends in my collection [Odds and ends
is a plural noun idiom that has existed in English since the mid-1700’s with
origins are far back the 14th century. credit to: idioms.online.
· It turns out [The first use
of the phrase can be traced back to the 1500s. Initially, it was used to
describe evicting someone for failing to pay rent. Credit to the idioms.com.
· On the other hand [The first use
of the phrase can be traced to 1630. It is a figurative use of the literal
action of holding out two hands and offering people two options. If you pick
the one option, it will differ from the one on the other hand. Credit to:
theidioms.com
Gillespite is much more colorful than many
other barium silicates due to the presence of iron; specimens are red. Crystals are usually “tiny” scattered
grains but mostly crystalline masses. The individual grains are usually
embedded in the matrix, mostly sanbornite.
It is difficult to distinguish but crystals usually are transparent to translucent,
brittle, have a vitreous luster, and a hardness of ~4 (Mohs). The best way to identify gillespite is to
know the collecting locality!
 |
| Photomicrographs of aggregates of gillespite grains in a sanbornite matrix. Note iridescence in much of the sanbornite. Width FOV ~8 mm in all. |
And my mind wanders—from idioms to 50
years ago. July of 1970 sticks out in my
mind, big time. In early July I was trying
to desperately finish up a few blank spots in my field work for the
dissertation at the University of Utah.
I was checking last minute locations, mostly in the Evanston, Wyoming,
area. I had finished the screening at my
Eocene mammal quarry in summer 1969 and had spent the academic year in four
major pursuits: 1) studying for, and passing, my “written exams” in spring 1970; and 2) using a binocular
scope to “pick out” the small fossils in the screened residue; 3) starting to
identify the critters; and 4) applying for an academic position (I was
successful)—I needed a job as I prepared for fatherhood. Wow, talk about stress—makes my personal quarantine
stress today seem trivial (although not the stress experienced by Covid-19
patients). On the other hand, it was an
exciting time in my life, and we left Salt Lake City on July 24 heading toward
Kansas listening to Mungo Jerry (see below) and a new life. Actually, life
was pretty darn good.