I bet you never thought about your dish rack much, especially not as an object that could be so revolutionary. Well, think again. I have proof, right here right now, of the power of the dishrack...
After two weeks of miscommunication and muddled confusion, I finally managed to obtain the rocks I collected at Kerkenes. The crate wandered around a bit--from land rover to office to porch--eventually ending up at Geoff and Francoise's flat. So, one day before GIS class I went to get them.
Of course, I picked the 90-degree sunny humid day to pick up the outstandingly heavy crate...which I then had to lug uphill for 20 minutes to get to class. Getting home with the crate was no pleasant task, either. On the dolmus home I ended up getting stuck in the worst possible seat for getting out. So, I did a good job of embarrassing myself as I tried to disembark, knocking some people unconscious in the process. But, the reward of having my rocks was well worth the twitching arm muscles, broken fingers, and bruised ego!
I must say, I've got myself a nice little collection here:
Granites
There are two types of granite at the site. They are mainly used for structural foundations and walls, rather than ornamentation or statuary.
1. gray
2. red
Sandstone/Burnt Sandstone
These were used in both structure and decoration. Sandstones and limestones show the most effects of burning. Like this sandstone here, what a burnt up mess!
Fossiliferous Limestones
These stones are pretty cool with their distinct colors of white limestone speckled with pinky red embedded fossils. They were mostly used in artistic or ornamental pieces, though it was used structurally in the palace complex. You can see the range of fire damage in the color of the limestone--the gray was burnt most.
Tourmaline-Quartz Rocks
These are probably my favorite rocks of the bunch, but they were used quite sparingly at Kerkenes. It's surprising they weren't used more, given their distinct colors and handsome patterns. However, they are metamorphic rocks, which means they are quite heavy and hard so carving was likely pretty difficult. Whatever, they sure are purdy!
Ophiolitic Clays
These are quite pretty too, but didn't have much of a presence at Kerkenes. Nonetheless, I thought I'd bring some home. They make for beautifully colored deposits with purples, reds, greens, and blues so rarely seen in rocks. It's hard to see the brilliant purple color of this rock, but it's really quite striking when seen in person.
Other Crazy Cool Rocks
For the most part, none of these rocks were used at the site but they can be found all around the area. Check out the beautiful small scale stratigraphy of that quartzose met rock! And the huge white crystal (plagioclase?) lodged in that quartz chunk! And the colorful layered metamorphic rock (I think the red bit might be garnet)!
The rocks were pretty dirty, so I filled up a tub with warm soapy water to do some cleaning. Most of the rocks were covered in a relatively nice mud that didn't take too much muscle to get off. It was a nice change from the mud I dealt with back in high school, when I worked at a fluorite mine in Durham. Now, that was some incredible mud. We had to blast water through high pressure paint guns to even start to get that stuff off...we wore rubber gloves, but it still hurt like a mother-in-labor when you missed the rock and hit your hand. At the end of the day our hands would be speckled with little red welts!
After cleaning, it was time to let them dry...
Ha! My dish rack was chock full of rocks!
Now, can you say that about your dish rack? I guess the better question is, would you ever want to be able to say that about your dish rack?
Well, I am proud to say it, proud to let the world know the truth!
And here, in my house, is ample proof that food and rocks are not worlds apart! They can very easily be melded together to form a universe of awesome. And that, my friend, is the power of the dish rack.
A tasty result? Unclear. But, that's a different question for a different time. If I one day manage to answer that question with a resounding "YES!" I could probably finagle myself quite a unique, interesting, and profitable job. Ok, maybe not profitable...but fun, for sure.
But, you know, I've still got a whole lot of my life left to live! Anything could happen, I could be inspired. In the meantime, though, I'm just happy I've got rocks in my dish rack.
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