Pilgrimage

Each year in the beginning of February there is a gem show held in Tucson, AZ. It is the largest of its kind in the world and certainly the most interesting. There are others to be sure, such as the Hong Kong show and the intolerably staid Basel show outside of Zurich. However Tucson is by and away the fortune hunting capital of the gem world. The show takes over the city and venues appear everywhere. The show is one of my favorite weeks of the year, and I try to share wandering around the many sparkling drop sites with the people I enjoy most. This year will be no exception. What really makes the show special is that one never has any idea of what they may find. People handle Burmese rubies with white gloves, and right next door another guy dumps the contents from his backyard out of a pickup truck. I have purchased diamonds as well as a ton of petrified palm tree from Sumatra. It is certainly fecund ground for the imagination. There is something terribly romantic about the place. Warm up the earphones and explore rocks from every corner of the earth. There was one moment this summer, during a brief stop in Moab at a rock shop, that I got my first anticipatory buzz of Tucson. At the moment, it feels like Gem Show Eve. I am very proud to be staying at my favorite ranch in Tucson, White Stallion; friends to the hero of the recent Tucson tragedy, Bill Badger.