Monday afternoon, I slipped free of the Muse for a few hours and spent time with a friend. I cleverly managed this by staying up until 8 that morning writing.
We'd planned to watch a movie, but we got to talking about all the things she wants to do with her new home instead. I'm one of those people who gets all sorts of bizarre ideas for jerry-rigging solutions. So when she said her new fridge doesn't attract her fridge magnets, I told her all she needs to do is mount a nice sheet of metal. And Home Depot's within walking distance. We could certainly find a piece of sheet metal at Home Depot. So off to Home Depot we walked.
On the way, we passed by Staples. In the Staples parking lot, they have enormous boulders incorporated into the landscaping. They're my friends, so I stopped to give them a pat and try, once again, to figure out what they are (good with granite, can identify basalt, get a little shaky on the less obvious stuff, alas).
Once at Home Depot, we found the perfect bits o' metal (little sheets used for roof flashing)*. Then we rambled through the rest of the store. I had to go say hi to the travertine tiles, of course - and tell my friend how travertine is formed. I stopped to drool over stone facings for exterior walls. We wandered up the aisle with all the other stone tiles, where I promised the black granite I'd be taking it home soon so that it can break up that horrible expanse of white which is my breakfast bar. Then I discovered a set of brown marble tiles just larger than your typical coaster. Instant heaven. Yes, I bought them. No, I don't know what I'll do with them, but that's not the point. They're bits of brown marble!!1!11! I can look at all of the crystals and textures and the streaking and the one really weird tile that was stuck in the middle and looks like breccia more than marble. I can hold them and squeeze them and - ahem. Well, I'll try not to get quite that carried away. But I can at least gaze at them lovingly and contemplate the story of deposition, orogeny and metamorphism that made them what they are today.
So, yeah. When I go to Home Depot, I go for the rocks. Is anybody surprised?
*Efrique pointed out that not all roof flashing thingies are magnetic, which is a key point to keep in mind should you decide to do this yourself.
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2 comments:
> (little sheets used for roof flashing)
Were you able to see/test if they were ferromagnetic?
Some forms of flashing (at least around here) are made of metals that aren't.
The good man at Home Depot tracked down magnets so we could test for just that reason. And they were indeed. Good thing he mentioned it, because I have 0 experience with roof flashing.
Now that you mention it, I shoulda mentioned it. Kinda forgot in the excitement of all those nice rocks...
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