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Across the Fence:  Jonni-- Sent an email to the Smithsonian  |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 24 2008 : 3:43:55 PM
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Hi Jonni!
I sent an email to my 'friend', used only loosely here as I met the man only for a day, at the Smithsonian. I asked him about my fossil and for any photos if he has any. So hopefully I can share some pictures with your here soon!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
Edited by - Alee on Apr 25 2008 2:25:54 PM |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2008 : 5:14:46 PM
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That would be great, Alee. I'm very anxious to see it! We (me and the dogs) were down in the creek bed this evening looking about. Found a few trilobites and cephlapods, and LOTS of brachiopods (as usual).
Can't wait!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 08:15:51 AM
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Hey Jonni!
I opened my email this morning and guess what I found! Here is the email from Dr. Wing!
Dear Alyssa,
What a coincidence, I was looking at your fossil literally yesterday.
My work on the Big Cedar Ridge fossil plants has taken MUCH longer than I
had ever thought it would, but the project has been reactivated recently in
collaboration with a young colleague (not that much older than you).
We have now recognized something like 150 types of fossil plants from Big
Cedar Ridge, among them the juniper-like fossil you found. Your specimen is
still one of the nicest ever found of that type. I haven't actually given
formal scientific names to any of the new species yet - that's a very
tedious process and there are so many new species there that I have mostly
been focused on just recognizing all the separate kinds. Right now we use
code-designations for each type, and your fossil is a "CO3," which stands
for conifer type 3.
We are in the late stages of preparing a sort of guide to the fossil plants
of Big Cedar Ridge, with photographs and descriptions of every kind. My
guess is that it will be ready to go to press toward the end of this year.
If you stay in touch I'll be sure to send you a copy. In the meantime I'll
see if I can't get a photo taken of the fossil you found and send it along.
I'm copying my colleague, Dr. Caroline Stromberg (University of Washington)
on this email because I know she will be interested. She asked me not long
ago who Alyssa was after she spotted your name on the label next to the
fossil you found.
Best wishes,
Scott Wing
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 08:22:32 AM
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How super cool!!! I thought it would be forever before you got a response!!!! Very exciting, Alee--and I can already picture in my head what I'm going to be looking at!!!!
What a nice email--he seems so sincere and how exciting, also that they've been able to identiry so many other species. BEYOND COOL!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 09:02:43 AM
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He actually is a really cool guy. So here's the story of that day in case anyone is interested:
My mom used to be the director of the local museum. She also coordinated some amazing Symposiums and had well know people come to talk about all sorts of things- including dinosaurs (we had some rare dinosaurs discovered with in about 20 miles from my house) and fossils.
One summer when I was about 12 there was a huge fossil expedition about 15 minutes drive away and my mom was invited to as well as several other local family that had ties to the museum or the BLM. My mom let me come along and we drove out to what we locals call the "badlands" as there is not much water- hardly any trees, but lots of sun.
The expedition was lead by Dr. Scott Wing of the Smithsonian and a group of his college students.
I was given a rock hammer and shown how to use it. We were all instructed to dig as much as we wanted, but any fossil other than palm fronts and "alphabet soup" (basically prehistoric leaf-litter) had to be appraised by either Dr. Wing or one of the college students. If it was one they needed or wanted- they got to keep it no question- but we could keep any that were not needed.
The fossils are housed in a very delicate volcanic ash composite that will dissolve when gotten wet, so each fossil was carefully wrapped in toilet paper, masking tape, and the location of the fossil find and date were written on the tape.
We had an amazingly productive morning, and in the afternoon we needed to clean up the site from all the rock chips. I saw a college kid about to throw a huge boulder over the side of the dig. When I asked him why he didn't split it first be said he basically didn't want to spend the time to do it. I asked him if I could and so I lugged this small boulder over to a spot and doggedly started to chip away at it. I must have been working on it for about half an hour before that same college student finally took pity on me and said he would split it for me.
I was happy as a clam so I just went back to my dig site. A little while later the college student came back and handed me a fossil that had split down the middle perfectly- the fossil and it's mirror image each had it's own space. The college student looked about white as a sheet as he handed me the fossils and said "You need to go show Dr. Wing these" and handed them to me. So off I went not quite understanding yet.
Dr. Wing took one look at the fossils and handed me an armload of binders and said "see if you can find it in here". After a while he too took pity on me.
"You won't find it in those binders. The closest one you will find is this one, but it is a different species. Do you know what this is?" He said. I shook my head no. "It's a prehistoric juniper and look here- it still has it's berries on it! There are only one or two other specimens of this fossil in the world so far and we haven't even named it yet. Can I please take this back to the Smithsonian? If you let me I will name it after you!" Of course I said yes! What, was he kidding?
But it was really neat that he included me in the discovery and told me how important the fossil was. I hope the college kid spoke up and let Dr. Wing know that he helped out because I don't know how much I explained. The memory of that day is pretty over shadowed by realizing I had found a rare fossil and if I hadn't stopped that college kid from chucking a huge rock over the edge- it would have never been found and in the first rainstorm- been destroyed.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 09:48:44 AM
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Cool story, Alee! I actually got goosebumps reading about it. Just think how easily that fossil could have been lost forever! Your dogged determination vertainly showed through at an early age...thanks for sharing the recollection of that day with us!
Jo
"Wish I had time to work with herbs all day!" |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 2:25:10 PM
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Thanks guys! Yes, my stubbornness paid off that day. Someday I hope to take Nora and any other kids I might have to the Smithsonian to show them Mommy's fossil! :D
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2008 : 2:34:17 PM
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That is a great story. I love exploring and looking for arrowheads, Native American pottery fragments,and early settler's artifacts on our place. We have found several whole arrowheads here and some pottery pieces but not any fossils.
I enjoyed your story Alee.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
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queenofdreamsz4u
True Blue Farmgirl
3845 Posts
Stephanie Suzanne
Smoky Mountains Tennessee
USA
3845 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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Across the Fence: Jonni-- Sent an email to the Smithsonian |
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Jonni-- Sent an email to the Smithsonian
