Midnight Contender Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Shrek and I took my mother out fossil hunting for Mother's Day. She is 71, and suffered a stroke about 8 years ago. The stroke stole her balance, some of her eyesight (she has partial veils), and her short term memory. It didn't, however, rob her zeal for life nor her penchant for adventure. Although from Englland, accent and all; she has now been a "Florida Girl" for the majority of her life. She is still in awe of how beautiful south Florida is. About a quarter mile from our kayak launch, our rusted out kayak trailer tongue broke. Shrek had to put my kayak on top of our 4 Runner, then balance his kayak and the trailer by weighing down the back. It was a dubious start to the day, but we were not deterred. We didn't even give up when I realized I forgot the mayo for the sandwiches! So, after a frightful start, we got our best find ever! One of the many times (sometimes for furtive reasons😇) I'm greatful for my mother's short term memory loss. Every time she saw it, she'd forgotten it, so it was like finding it over and over again. We got some good hemi's, some perfect sand shark, some other smaller megs, but the meg stole the show! Our son saved the day by bringing us my father's flatbed trailer and leaving it at the launch so we could get home. Edited May 13, 2014 by Shrek and Fiona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhounensis Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Nice hemis and a beautiful meg. I'm glad your mother could get a chance to enjoy the river and find stuff too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike and the Megs! Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Wow!! Great day. The teeth are a bonus. Awesome to spend time with your mom I'm sure!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Contender Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Thanks Mike and Calhounenis. We all three enjoyed the day. My poor mother lamented for many a year when she realized I was more like my brothers than she would have liked. She so badly wanted a little girl in pink dresses and ribbons. As I trudged toward her: suited in camo waders, a ball cap and wielding a shovel as I batted away a giant horse fly, I casually asked "ain't 'cha sorry you named me Fiona now?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Wow. Awesome meg (and not bad engineering either...). Congrats! How big was it? Looks around 4.25 to 4.5". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Great finds! Your Mother sounds like a fun woman! Anyone at 71 that agrees to spend their mother's day in a muddy river looking for fossils has to be! May i ask what river you guys hunted so successfully? ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Kudos to you and Shrek for giving her more amazing moments and memories that you'll always cherish. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Wow great Meg!!! And what great memories!!! My mom would never go for that... lol It's wonderful you were all able to enjoy your very special mothers day adventure! And what an adventure it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 That Meg is a STUNNER!!!! Very nice, Congrats Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatWhiteMac Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Great trip and beautiful Hemi's & Meg!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Thanks for sharing your Mothers Day activities. Looks like there were some issues but being with Mom outweighs all of that stuff. Congrats! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Contender Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Thanks everyone for looking. We brought matrix home, so that occupied my time. I love micro fossils, I suppose because that is mostly what we find, and they are difficult to spot. The fossil forum has been so helpful in identifying my small finds, and I'm grateful. If you think my mother a good sport for coming with us, when you hear a description of where we go.... It is a small creek off the Peace River. It takes about an hour of paddling to get to where we like to hunt. This is a small winding creek, quite narrow and totally authentic Florida. Not long ago, I startled a 9 foot gator sunning himself on the bank. When I become queen, gators will not be granted land access! He was sitting about 3 feet above the water level as I rounded the corner, which made him eye level with me in my kayak. His dire instinct to escape into the water had my kayak rocking. The instant photo brain shot of him coming straight off the bank toward me a mere 5 feet away is a picture I won't soon forget. I know his lair now and yell like a banshee when turning that corner. Let's not go into when I went crashing though the brush and frightened a boar and her babies. My younger sister who hunts would have died laughing at that episode. We have had a few instances of poisonous plants and allergic bug bite reactions, not to mention rashes. Our spot is not for the faint hearted. You have to be really comfortable with Florida to go. I often look with envy at the Peace River proper finds, knowing those hunters find more in one trip than we find In four. We simply love the difficulty and beauty of getting there. You may question our sanity it taking Dear Ol' Mum with us, but like us, she loves all that is south Florida. She has often told me the story her getting off the plane in Miami from England. It was summer and back in the days when you you descended a flight of stairs onto the tarmac. She said "The moment I got off the plane, I was hit in the face with a warm, wet blanket and knew I would spend the rest of my life here." Yes, the fossils are a bonus, but having my mother teach me to appreciate nature is a life long love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharko69 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Great teeth, even better story. Better call my mum. Congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Contender Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Wow. Awesome meg (and not bad ###### engineering either...). Congrats! How big was it? Looks around 4.25 to 4.5". The tooth measured 106 mm. Shrek is so funny, he has taken it to work with him (he thought I wouldn't notice) every day. Everyone he shows it to wants to know where he got it, and the simple answer is, the Peace River. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Beautiful meg!! But spending quality time in the mud with mom; now that is priceless. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDOTB Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Great finds and story!!!! I love those hemis, what are the sizes of them? DO, or do not. There is no try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwbh Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Contender Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 Great finds and story!!!! I love those hemis, what are the sizes of them?Sorry for the delay in responding, had to go fossil hunting.....you understand.The two "brother hemi teeth" are each 33mm x 42 mm, and 25mm x 30 mm. The darker one is 30 mm x 41mm. All three are in perfect condition. Perfect that is, for my Palentological Affectation Treasury. I feel quite badly for my son, who will have to deal with this collection of wierd and wonderful stuff. Great short story that some (from the south) may appreciate.....I have a customer who is an investment professional. He is elderly, well educated, wealthy, and from New York. He deems me as a southerner, which is tantamount to being ignorant in the general scheme of the world (he would be secretly impressed I know how to spell kayak). I showed him a picture of the meg we found. He wants me to get it appraised and insured because he heard it may well be worth twenty thousand dollars. He is concerned about the security of my home, and wanted me to reaseach the value. Baahaa. I think he was a little offended when I said I don't care how much it's worth, and who was he talking to that had such wild ideas? I can almost hear the thoughts careening about his head......but, but, but it worth $$$$$$. He doesn't get I don't care if it's 50 bucks or 20 thousand, I found it, it's mine! Investment councillor, what else would you expect? Thanks for looking everyone. We went out this weekend and found a large whale vert, same site, just no hemi's nor Meg's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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