Indian Beads

[brachiomyback]

Redacted version….

I recently took a trip back to my childhood home in Illinois, found some crinoids and my daughter found an awesome brachiopod (scroll down to view pictures).

Embellished version….

I recently had a dichotomous trip back to central Illinois to see my P’s in addition to attending my wife’s family reunion. We decided to break up the drive into two days considering that a non-stop drive through NC, TN, KY, IN and IL would be close to 13 hours. So with my baby son and two daughters packed like King Oscar sardines in the back of the Yaris, we were off.

My wife noticed that my eyes did a good Marty Feldman impression during the drive through Tennessee and Kentucky. One of my eyes looking at the road in front of me would suddenly veer off to the left or to the right, like a chameleon, to study the various road cut strata along the Interstate. I knew however that a stop off the beaten path to collect some fossils was just wishful thinking.

With the reunion festivities completed, we continued our trip to my childhood home. As soon as we arrived, my girls wanted to go to the local park with grandpa and grandma. I accompanied them to the playground and the associated disc golf course. After a couple of solo rounds of throwing flicks and backhands, I decided to see how my girls were.

I then noticed that the parking / roadways areas had the same road “wash” gravel that I used to find crinoids, aka “Indian Beads” along the streets of my home as a kid. As I brushed off the small gravel pebbles imbedded in the skin of my knees, I soon realized that my knees definitely aged over 30 years since the last time I did this. So now with my disc golf Frisbees utilized as “knee pads”, I crawled around the parking and roadside areas like a true middle aged fossil hunter, certifiable at that.

My eldest daughter finally saw what I was doing and quickly made a bee line to accompany me on my endeavor. Soon we both discovered our first crinoids of the hunt. Next my three year old joined us, much to the disapproval of Grandma. Her promises of homemade ice cream, if you come back to the playground, fell on deaf ears. My mom finally succumbed to our joint venture; however, soon became frustrated because see didn’t have her reading glasses. My dad too finally arrived (rolling his eyes) and stated that there are no fossils here. I threw him a “bead” and told him you’re never too old to start a fossil collection. I then informed him that the specimen he was holding was roughly 350 million years old. I decided to return to hunting rather than explain to him how Illinois used to be a shallow inland sea during the Mississippian Period.

Soon I called it quits to appease my parent so they could enjoy their grand daughters at the playground. This was only after I promised my daughters that I’ll have an “expedition” crawling amongst the gravel with them the following day.

As a kid, I used to hunt for these “Indian Beads” only to later discover that they were fossils. The thrill of the hunt remained the same after all these years with this excitement equally shared by my daughters the following day as various shaped specimens of crinoids and corals were discovered.

The girls and I had a blast and I can’t tell you how many times people walking or slowing driving by would stare at us in bewilderment, especially when my three year old gave out a proud yell that she found one. Gawkers were trying to figure out just what were inside those small Ziploc bags of ours that we held as if they were diamonds.

The bonus finds were a partial trilobite that I found and my eldest found a partial ammonite. This is the first trilobite that I have found in my collection, other than a few partial molts that I found in Kentucky.

On our travels back to North Carolina the backseat was a buzz with crying, screaming and fighting in various combinations building up to a crescendo. My wife and I decided the baby needed to latch on for a feeding and it was time for me to conduct a well over due rest area exorcism on my daughters. As we pulled off to the first eastbound Interstate 64 rest area in Illinois, my girls noticed it had a playground. This observation caused the strength of their child seat harness to be tested to the breaking point. I turned around and showered them with Diet Coke screaming, “The power of Christ compels you… The power of Christ compels you”.

Once somewhat contained, the hounds were released and they made their way to the playground. I too then became frenzied with excitement, not by the playground but rather that I noticed the vast base of this playground had the same type of wash gravel we recently found crinoids in. As my daughters and I dove in the gravel together, my eldest asked if there were any crinoids in here. This was soon verified by both of us that there were.

Then, my eldest let out a very distinctive and loud OMG that immediately garnered my attention. She ran over to me as if she was holding a baby bird that fell from its nest. She had for my viewing pleasure the coolest little brachiopod I have ever seen. It had a translucent look to it. The details on it were distinctive and it appears to have undergone some sort of mineralization which I have been told could be calcite. I’m still trying to figure out the ID of it.

We soon continued our journey back and made our way through Indiana and then stopped at the first rest area east of Louisville, just south of Simpsonville (D’OH!! – not kidding). We had a picnic under a gazebo area and my daughters and I decided to investigate some rocks in the proximate area after our snack. We ended up finding some more area fossils here too. My daughter found and identified a snail to my amazement and I even found a partial trilobite. The fossils were pretty beat up so we decided to leave them on the table. Hopefully a child came across them and these finds would spark the wonder as to create another paleontologist.

Enjoy…

[Nandomas]

This report is exactly why I love this Forum :P

Congrats brachiomyback

[Just Bob]

Excellent report!

I confess, many times I skip the report and go right to the fossils, but I am very glad I did not this time. Well done.

[Xiphactinus]

Well done report!!!! I esp enjoyed the backseat exorcism!

[Fossildude19]

Great report, as always!

This is the type of trip report I love to read on the Forum.

Your sense of humor is a great accent to your writing style!

Thanks for sharing, and keep up the good work. (Although, I would have opted for IBC Cream Soda - distracts the demons a bit better ! )

Well done!

Regards,

[JohnJ]

This report is exactly why I love this Forum :P

Congrats brachiomyback

Agreed!

[Bikerboyzx6r]

Thanks for a great report. I didnt know that "indian Beads" were what I have been finding recently on the north coast of Wales! I just thought small coral fossil Thanks for the report

[MikeD]

Nice! I almost felt like I was there. Reminded me of road cuts never stopped at,.... yet.

[tracer]

i feel more centered when i read of your adventures. love the stuff.

your daughter is beyond cute. as a parent of just one high-maintenance teenage daughter in cahoots (and sometimes at odds) with her vicariously self-actualizing mother, your future is funny to contemplate. play lotto.

the calcite brach is way cool.