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Dan Mabbutt
Nov 9, 20223 min read
What’s a “Gastrolith” ?
The common name is “gizzard stone” and they are definitely a real “thing”. Birds (today’s descendants of dinosaurs) still have them. In...
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Dan Mabbutt
Nov 3, 20225 min read
Crinoid-netlies ! The Origin of Golden Swirl
… The Saga Continues ……… 21 March 2023 ***************************************************************************** A new friend...
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Dan Mabbutt
Oct 7, 20225 min read
My Dad's Fossils -- Part II
A month ago, I published Part I of this series. I started that essay by explaining some of the background for my dad’s fossils. I really...
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Dan Mabbutt
Oct 1, 20223 min read
Montana, Rocks, and Cows
I have hundreds of pounds of Montana agate, and it all came from just one rock hunting trip to Montana when I was just a pebble pup....
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Dan Mabbutt
Sep 2, 20225 min read
My Dad's Fossils -- Part I
A few initial observations. First , this is not an organized, themed, collection of fossils. My dad chased rocks for fifty years and he...
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Dan Mabbutt
Aug 27, 20223 min read
What Makes a Rock Go "Round" ?
A sphere machine, of course! Beautiful, ain't it? Have you seen rock spheres and wondered how they got so round and perfect? Here's a...
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Dan Mabbutt
Jun 23, 20221 min read
Troubled Water
In the story about getting a truck load of Lovelock jasper in Nevada, I make the claim that the Lord must not want me and the Devil is...
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Dan Mabbutt
Jun 20, 20224 min read
O. G. Wottafossil !!! (With apologies to Popeye)
When is a fossil not a fossil .... The term "fossil" is used a lot among rockhounds. But it's a very broad term and doesn't tell you much...
112 views4 comments
Dan Mabbutt
Jun 15, 20223 min read
The Creature in the Desert
My dad, Marvin Mabbutt, was one of those men who could handle anything nature could throw at him. If he had lived in the early 1800’s, he...
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Dan Mabbutt
Jun 7, 20221 min read
The Story of Lovelock
Don't get your hopes up! This is not one of those X-rated stories. It's another adventure I had with my dad. I originally wrote this...
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Dan Mabbutt
Jun 5, 20224 min read
Eden of the West and Blue Forest Wood
When the Vikings discovered Iceland, and then Greenland, they pioneered the idea of the geographic lie. Iceland is an absolutely...
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Dan Mabbutt
May 29, 20225 min read
Yellow Cat Wood? Or Yellow Cat Bark?
If you're new to my store, you don't know my story about how I ended up with piles of rocks that you just can't find "in the wild"...
143 views3 comments
Dan Mabbutt
May 23, 20222 min read
Utah Red Horn Coral
As far as I can discover, Utah "Rugosa" Red Agate Horn Coral is unique in the world. Since they were around for a very long time, there...
132 views1 comment
Dan Mabbutt
May 20, 20221 min read
The Last Mammoth
My wife, Roxy, does beautiful needlework. Quilts, cross-stitch, embroidery ... beautiful stuff. We use some of it and some pieces are...
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Dan Mabbutt
May 19, 20224 min read
Hall Creek – What We Have Lost
My dad was a construction carpenter. In that job, a man might work long and hard for a month or so on a project, and then get laid off...
74 views2 comments
Dan Mabbutt
May 17, 20223 min read
My Dad versus The Desert
When my dad was a teenager running around a coal mining camp high in the Utah mountains, the entertainment options available to teenagers...
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Dan Mabbutt
May 16, 20222 min read
On the Desert With My Dad -- The Desert Wash
One of my earliest memories of being on the Utah desert with my dad was crashing his Jeep into the side of a wash. It wasn't my fault!...
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