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Welcome to Nature-Made Rocks
Rock Collecting Photo Gallery
My name is Conrad. I have been collecting rocks since 1964. If you include artifacts and arrowheads, it would be since about 1958. My dad found 57 arrowheads in Sonoma County near where he got out of the Air Force after WWII. He offered a dime each for each one after that. A few of the neighborhood kids took him up on his offer, but I kept mine. Later, in the early 60's, I began to collect bottles and coins. You could trade and compare bottles and coins. You could even put a dollar amount on them. Rocks were different. Most people who collect rocks, collect "pretty" rocks. I looked for unusual rocks. Among the first I put into my collection, one looked like a petrified potato, one like fossilized cement, and another one had an image of a duck. Only half of the people I showed them to agreed with what I thought I saw in these unusual stones. Being a sensitive person, I withdrew.
Having lost some of my coins and bottles and selling some, I noticed my rocks stayed
with me. People bought my coins and bottles, but not my rocks. I think I sold my first one in 1969 as
a paperweight. It looked like a bird. I was offered a very good amount for one that looked like Babe
Ruth hitting a home run. You could make out the "3" on the Babe's chest, not his back. But
I have yet to retrieve it. You see, from 1969 til now, I have moved several times in my life, until
1979 when I began to either remodel old houses for others, or buy my own and remodel them. Several
times between acts I would move, and as my collection got bigger, it was harder to lug around. So I
ditched my prized pieces of minerals in rivers and creeks around the San Francisco Bay Area. I made
maps where I left them. Many times I tried to get it together to bring them together and make a museum
or a display.
Retrieving them has been a chapter in itself. Some were in state parks, and I was
told not to take stones from there. I was careful also to not put stones where they stood out from the
surrounding stones. Some I found 30 feet downstream, others 100. Never together, as buried, always
single. And along the way I found others. Some I haven't found could be more than a foot below the
riverbed. Now we're talking excavation equipment. As you age, your mind and disc drive capacity expands
and you find new things that you wouldn’t have long ago. My ability to spot things and visions is as
good as ever. I now wear reading glasses. After selling my last house, I had a window of opportunity
to pull this off. I thought, "its now or never." So now I've retrieved enough of my rocks
to show them in public. You can look at the images in the rocks and see if you agree with my
descriptions, or in some areas I will ask for help. Some faces I don’t recognize as resembling anyone,
and sometimes you may see different things in the rocks than I did. Send me your opinions! Also,
we will decide if to leave it online or open a museum or display where you can see them in person. These
rocks are all still exactly how I found 'em. They have not been altered in any way.
- Conrad
February 2006
More About My Rock Collection • View My Online Rock Museum Gallery