Always something new to discover!

I had never heard of a Petoskey Stone until our trip to Shady Shores. In the mornings we could see different folks walking up and down the beach with their head facing down at the water near their feet. Occasionally they would reach down into the water and pick something up, study it for a bit, and sometimes (if they were lucky) put it in their pocket. I asked SS what they were looking for and she said "Petoskey Stones!" Of course, having no clue what a Petoskey Stone was, I had to ask. She told me they were fossels from coral which grew there a long time ago. I just Googled it, so here is an edited shortened version in layman's terms.

Petoskey Stones are composed of the fossilized skeletons of "Colony Coral" which lived in the warm waters that covered Michigan some 350 million years ago during the Devonian Period. They are most often found along the beaches along certain areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. When dry they look powdery grey, and when wet the hexagonal pattern of the fossil is clearly visible. Petoskey Stones are often polished (which also brings out their patterns) and used in jewelry. Michigan was extensively resurfaced by glaciers during the Pleistocene (the last 1.6 million years), and as part of this process, moving glaciers plucked up pieces of the bedrock and carried them along, smoothing and rounding them in transport. This accounts for the regular shapes of Petoskey Stones found today.

T happen to run up to me on the beach from the water's edge, dripping wet, and I asked him if he knew what a Petoskey Stone looked like, and he said "Yes." I asked him if he thought he could find one for me and he said "I'll try!" And about five minutes later he came running back with the biggest smile on his face and handed over my first Petoskey Stone.

The stones come in all different sizes.Here is the one T found for me is about the size of a nickel.

Here is a photo I found on the web of a Petoskey Stone that looks to be polished.

Thanks T . . . I'll forever treasure the Petoskey Stone you found for me!

Life is good!