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Inside the Gold Mine
The wooden stairs are steep, only about ten of them but
steep. At the foot is Grandma’s canning pantry complete
with carefully sealed Mason jars filled with applesauce,
jams, jellies, watermelon pickles, and other preserves.
Mostly it’s fruit we picked. I like it when Grandma
chooses me to fetch something from the shelves.
To the left is Grandpa’s workbench with an assortment
of tools including a bench-grinder, a couple of rock
tumblers and, my favorite, a handheld black light. We
use it to view the fluorescent stones and minerals in his
rock collection gathered on many trips across North
America. Fluorite, calcite, and hyalite all dazzle in its
subtle glow. Grandpa weaves stories of adventure in with