ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS (TM): Opportunity, and the Lack Thereof

Some people get excited about meeting celebrities. Understandably so. They are famous, and some of them have done some incredible things with their lives. I have met many celebrities. I have done many things for a living over the course of my lifetime, and some of those things have brought me into contact with celebrities. Some of them were very nice and very humble. A few of them were absolute jerks. But all in all, most of them were just regular people that happened to be famous, and did not impress me very much. It was nice to meet them in person, and it makes for a good story, but that was all.

Today, however, I met someone who, in my life at least, would be considered a celebrity. An elderly gentlemen walked up to me with a book, "Rockhounding Arizona", from my table in his hand and said to me, "Young lady would you believe me if I told you I wrote this book?" To which I replied, rather jokingly, "I don't know, should I believe you?" There was a lady with him who sensed my skepticism, and nodded approvingly. She smiled and said, "Yes, dear, he did write that book." The man said, "Yes, I am Gerry Blair. See", he said, pointing to the author's name on the cover, "I wrote this book." I said, "Wow, it's an honor to meet you, sir. Thank you."

Now the bad part about this whole thing is that it was extremely busy today at the Lake Havasu City Gem and Mineral Show. At the time Mr. Blair came to my booth, I was swamped with people. Now, as a show vendor, the one thing that you always want to be is mobbed with people in your booth. So normally this would not be a bad thing- but at this particular time, I wished I could have spent much more time with Mr. Blair. Imagine the stories this man must have. Think of the experiences he has had in his lifetime of collecting rocks. I wished I could have picked his brain or sat around a campfire tonight and listened to him talk about rocks and rockhounding- the places he had been, the things he had done, stuff he had found. Adventures and misadventures. I wish I had been able to spend even just a little bit more time getting to know him. But I had customers, and it seemed like at that particular time, just when I was meeting Gerry Blair, people were coming out of the woodwork to look at stuff in my booth. A great problem to have at any other moment in my life- except this particular one.

I got to talk with Mr. Blair for a very short time. He very graciously autographed the only copy of "Rockhounding Arizona" that I had left, and agreed to take a photograph with me. Then I politely, and reluctantly, excused myself. I shook his hand and when I turned toward my customers he disappeared into the crowd. For the next several hours, I barely thought about him because I was so busy. But later in the day, when it slowed down, I realized how great an opportunity I had today. I got to meet a great man- at least in the field of rockhounding anyway. And then I felt sad. Sad that I was so busy I could not take more of an opportunity to sit down with this man and enjoy his company for a while.

I thought about kids and how they look up to their teachers. Many times the teachers go their entire lives without realizing how much they are appreciated and admired by their students. Most of the time the students just go on and never get a chance to tell the teacher thank you or a story about how something that teacher taught them had made a difference in their life. I have been a teacher before. I have taught hundreds of kids over the course of the years, since I taught my first jewelry making class in 2001. I often wonder what and how those kids are doing now, and if I made an impact in their lives at all.

This was like meeting a great teacher. After all I am a rockhound, and in "Rockhounding Arizona", Mr. Blair teaches pretty much everything there is to know about rockhounding in this state, at least in my humble opinion anyway. It was a great honor to meet him. I wonder if he realizes how much the younger generation of rockhounds appreciates and admires the generation that has gone before us and taught us alot of what we know. I hope someday I get another opportunity to meet Mr. Blair. And I hope, if I do, it is under circumstances which allow me to really enjoy his company and get to know him personally. I would like to be able to thank him and tell him how much he and the veteran rockhounds like him are appreciated and respected. (Here's the link for "Rockhounding Arizona" by Mr. Blair http://www.amazon.com/dp/0762744499/?tag=roinmyhe-20)

So today was a day I will remember all my life. The drive here yesterday was very pretty. The people in the Lake Havasu Gem and Mineral Society have treated us vendors like kings and queens. We have been fed well and catered to. There are several volunteers that go around to the vendor booths to serve us food, water, and coffee. One lady even watched my booth for me today so I could go to the restroom. The show staff and the Gem and Mineral Society members that host the show went all out for us to make this show fabulous. And that in itself would be memorable. But today I met Mr. Gerry Blair. And even if every other show I do from now on is as great as this one has been, nothing will be able to top that. At least not anything I can think of right now, anyway.
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