This milestone marks the beginning of my journey into the subculture of the mineral world called Fluorescents. I remember the first time I found out about fluorescing minerals. I was in the Weinman Mineral Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. As the fluorescent minerals display was demonstrated to me, I was just floored! I couldn't believe my eyes when the black light came on. It transformed those plain-looking rocks into a dazzling explosion of vivid color. I thought it had to be some sort of illusion produced with colored light. I was shocked even further when the switch was flipped to a black light of a different wavelength. This was almost too much for me to take! There were even more different colors and they had all changed places. WOW! It lit me on fire! I am always on the look out for ways to "avoid the ordinary", and Eureka! I found one. Fluorescents are definitely extraordinary! In all this, I have even found a thought provoking simile: People, like fluorescents, can look ordinary and plain on the surface, but hidden on the inside are the bright and glowing colors of their personality just waiting to be discovered.

To broaden my horizons, I have now joined the Fluorescent Mineral Society. You can check out their website by clicking on the F.M.S. logo on this page. Stay tuned for more fluorescent chronicles as I dance along the path into my newly found avocation.