A Year of Blogging: January 7, 2011

Today is Old Rock Day. At first, I thought 'old rock? As opposed to new rock? Aren't all rocks old?' Not wanting to look like an idiot (well, any more than I might usually...), I consulted my personal rock guy for this blog: Erich. One of his Bachelor's Degrees is in Geology. His PhD was also in Geology. So the guy knows rocks. I used to bring him rocks from my various vacations. But rocks are kind of heavy in your suitcase. Now I take pictures of rocks for him. I asked Erich why would it be old rock day, not new rock day. Or why not just 'Rock Day'. Is a new rock only 1 million years old? Erich told me new rocks would be rocks that are currently forming from volcanic eruptions. Magma. I remembered that from my college geology courses (we were required to take a certain number of science courses. Not being a science oriented person, I figured Geology and Astronomy were my best bets). Magma is a new rock, since it has just formed. All other rocks are old. The rocks in your driveway or the pebbles on the beach are old. I guess it does make sense then to have 'Old Rock Day'. You could really injure yourself playing with new rocks.