Alabaster and Bunny Memories

I traveled out to Oklahoma and Kansas to visit with family. As I was traveling through Oklahoma, my sis in Tulsa directed me to the Alabaster Caverns http://www.oklahomagolf.com/detail.asp?id=1+5U+920 in western Oklahoma, which happened to be not so out of the way on my ride west to Dodge City, KS, where my folks live. The Alabaster Caverns State Park sells alabaster from Colorado in their gift shop, and they had two pieces when I drove through, so I bought them. And as I traveled northwest to my folks, a new road bed was being opened. Along the site were white stones, that appeared to have quartz in them...but I am a true newbie at this and was unsure what they were. The pickup was empty. I loaded probably six stones weighing a total of 40 to 60 pounds. What could I loose? And they were sparkley, they could be added to the rock garden. Arriving in KS, I borrowed my brother-in-law's rasp and found the stone soft, somewhat waxy, so I took the known alabaster out of the sack in the front seat and tested it too. It also seems waxy, do I have white alabaster? I think so....

While we, Old Bike Rider joined me in western KS after a motorcylce jaunt out to Four Corners and Mesa Verde, were home we looked up a longtime e-mail acquaintance of my husband's and arranged to meet him and his wife at a great Thai Restaurant in Dodge City. The food is great, if you pass through Dodge and you like Thai be sure to stop, they are located on the west side of town, north side of the road, on the main drag. At dinner, I found out the wife was into stone, a retired archaeologist, and dealing with health issues, she is now a jewelry maker. And what a collection of stones she has....they were so lovely I couldn't leave without purchasing a small token for myself.

But back to bunnies, my folks provide water for the birds, the chickens from across the street come to water, as well as ring necked doves, robins, blue jays, tiny browns that are not sparrows, and many others...but bunnies come too! I did get a picture of a bunny...but that got us to talking about the bunny family we used to have...now I am sure I will get this partly wrong and partly right but when we were kids and lived on Beeson Rd., someone gave us bunnies. Now, George - the sis who now lives in Tulsa- and named so by an "uncle" - named our bunnies after the Farkel Family (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farkel_Family), but I am pretty sure for us they were the Hirkamur family, Fanny, Frankie, Fritz, Fudgy, and Ferdie. It happens they were all girl bunnies, and no one is for sure what happened to them....one wonders- could a new stone family grouping live in Virginia?

Today finds me on the east side of KC, Mo. as the trusty pick up gets some clutch work done...
and then hopefully on tomorrow to the Vintage Motorcycle days in Mid-Ohio..will I see you there? http://www.amadirectlink.com/vmd/2008/