[meteorite-list] What started it all?

From: Michael Gilmer <michael_w_gilmer_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:51:22 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <838361.9609.qm_at_web58414.mail.re3.yahoo.com>

Hi folks!

I got started with the purchase of about 10 grams of
NWA 4293 from a list member. I chanced across this
list member's sale by accident while combing the web
for antique astronomy books (which I also collect, but
am now focused on meteoritics books). The little
ziploc full of typical desert polished little H6
pebbles cost me $5. When they arrived in the mail,
I was like a kid at Christmas. And I still recall the
first time I held a rock from space. It was such a
thrill to understand the fundamentals of the science
behind it and not just say "wow it's a shooting star"
and put it in a drawer-full of knick knacks and
forget about it. Having always been attracted to
astronomy, telescopes, and stargazing, the jump to
meteoritics seemed natural and long overdue. I cannot
imagine why I waited until last fall to purchase
my first meteorite and get started in the hobby/field.

Now I am focusing on building a nice personal
collection
of good provenance and doing some wheeling and dealing
to offset the costs of cultivating my collection. But
my real interest lies in the science and "practice"
of meteoritics. I have little academic credentials
and none in any of the related fields of meteoritics,
but I have a keen desire to learn identification,
classification, and conservation/preservation
techniques for long-term "archival" storage. My wife
and I also plan to travel the US in a RV, combing
strewnfields, chasing bolides and stargazing from the
darkest skies in the nation.

While my personal collection has grown tremendously,
my curiousity about meteorites grows by leaps and
bounds. My poor suffering wife is subject to endless
conversations about tektites, the UNWA market,
etching,
prevent oxidation, acquiring this or that meteorite
book, etc, etc, ad-nauseum. ;) My mind is on various
aspects of meteorites and meteoritics all day long
and I dream about bolides and strewnfields.

To further my meteorite madness, I have joined the
Meteoritical Society as of 2 days ago and I look
forward to being a midget amongst giants there who
can perhaps learn via osmosis.

Right now, my wife and I are full-time caretakers and
are not free to travel - so I am concentrating on
my personal collection, reading the literature, and
learning all I can about meteoritics in anticipation
of a life-long obsession.

My thanks to this list for sparking that indirectly
and continuing to nurture my learning. :)

Regards from swampy Louisiana,

MikeG

---------------------------------------
on 4/10/08 8:40 AM, Eric Wichman at
eric at meteoritewatch.com wrote:

> This is a two fold Statement/Question. It could mean
"What started it
> all! referring to my meteorite collection and
adventures, or it could
> mean something way more profound than my
insignificant little
> explanation... I'll leave it for you to decide.
>



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Received on Fri 11 Apr 2008 08:51:22 PM PDT