Posted by: Victor_Claveau on 02/15/2009 12:00 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/17/2009 09:34 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
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Every Stone Has a Story~by Victor Claveau
Beyond doubt, Stories in Stones is one of the most unique shops you will ever come across. It’s a museum where just about everything is for sale, and I might add, at reasonable prices.....
    
Click on Photo for Slideshow with captions
I found myself absolutely fascinated from the first moment I entered Stories in Stones, in Angels Camp.
Never having much of an interest in the hard sciences, I avoided these studies in high school and college. After a couple of visits to Stories in Stones, and my conversations with Russ and Pam Shoemaker, I began to seriously regret this educational deficiency.
The Shoemaker’s have a passion for science, with a special interest in geology. Self taught, Russ is a well respected expert and has lectured far and wide to share his knowledge in order to excite interest in the field that has captured his interest since boyhood. Raised in Michigan, his father first introduced him to the study of geology at age eight. From that time to this, he had dedicated his life to learning about and teaching — Rocks.
During my last visit to Stories in Stones, Russ took the time (as he always does for anyone) to give me a tour of the shop and to provide a bit of background.
“One of my basic goals in life has been to convince everyone that rocks are the most important things in their lives. My wife Pam and I established this business because we love the earth sciences and we wanted to help others learn to appreciate the earth. So I’ll take two minutes, if you have that much time, and give you my indoctrination spiel. Number one, you can’t live without rocks. If there were no rocks out there, in the earth’s crust and on the earth surface, life could not exist on earth. Number two, you have to eat rocks every day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you hope to survive in life and live to a ripe old age like myself. I turned 79 this past June. Number three, the entire world’s economy, and I mean that nothing is left out; the entire world’s economy is built on and based on rocks. If there were no rocks out there in the earth’s crust, and on the earth’s surface, there would be no income sources on earth. And finally, number four, if you were to take the time to do a scientific study of your own composition, and then do a scientific study of the earth’s composition, and chart what you would have learned in each area, which I have done and exhibited in our education area, put the charts side by side and compare them, why, what would you find when you made the comparison, you would find that you are nothing more than a walking rock yourself!. So with all these thoughts in mind, I think we all need to learn more about the rocks, because the more we learn about the rocks, the more we learn about ourselves and others.”
I interjected, “Well, you’ve got my attention. The statements you’ve just made are extraordinary and really need clarification.” Smiling, Russ replied, “That’s why I go around proving that all those statements are true, giving scientific fact and showing the evidence for all the points I make.”
I said, “If I didn’t know who you are and your educational background; after listening to your ‘spiel’, I would have to conclude that you are a little unbalanced; that you are missing a few screws in your computer.” He replied, “I know, you would think, ‘this guy is nuts’, and I point that out to youngsters when I teach. They probably think I’m crazy when I tell them they have to eat rocks, but I go through, in detail, the source of all the minerals that they eat in the daily diet. I go through all the elements that form those minerals, because the mineral is nothing more than the chemical combination of basic chemical elements. Those elements combine in nature to form minerals, the minerals mixed in the molten magma chambers under the earth’s crust and form aggregate groups of minerals and as the molten mass cools, they form what are known as rocks. A rock is nothing more than an aggregate or group of minerals” I said, “We obviously consume minerals daily in our diet.” “Exactly” Russ replied, "Rocks, which are composed of minerals, weather down as time passes. They form sediments, and one of those sediments is dirt, which we have named ‘soil’. What happens is that we plant seeds in the soil, and the seeds of every plant have been designed to eat rocks. We are not designed to eat rocks in their elemental form, so the plants do it for us. They grow, they mature, and produce what we call food, — plants have to eat also, they eat the rocks for us, they produce these wonderful vegetables and fruits and other essentials for daily life. So this material that the plants produce, we call food, but we wouldn’t have to call it food at all, we could have just as easily have named that material rocks in a different form, because that is all food is. Food is nothing more than rocks that have been converted by plants into edible substances that our bodies can assimilate, and hopefully we will grow and live long, healthy, and prosperous lives. The reason I tell people that we have to eat rocks every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because it’s true.
I said, “Now I understand why you stated that the world’s economy is based upon rocks, but your claim does require a little explanation”. Russ continued, “I agree, that’s why I give people the earth in a nut shell, in one hour, and I also point out several industries which are built on rocks, especially on sand. What most folks don’t realize is that the largest industry in the world today, the electronics industry, is built on sand, and the world’s richest men’s fortunes are also built on sand, because it is the sand, which is weathered down particles of quartz, silicon dioxide, SIO2, that is the source of the silicon which has been the foundation of the largest industry in the world. So the largest industry in the world and the world’s richest fortunes were built on sand. Quite interesting, I think.”
You will find Stories in Stones in both Murphys and Angels Camp.
The front section of the Angels Camp shop is the retail section; behind it is a classroom that seats 50 plus and which has accommodated 1st graders to graduate students, from as far away as San Diego County. The classroom is packed with exhibits. One of which is a display of 62 marine vertebrate fossils which were unearthed in Kern County; another is a comprehensive display of 28 species of sharks, some long extinct with teeth 6 ½ inches in length.
This is a place you have to see for yourself in order to gain a proper perspective.
The left side of the building is a wholesale warehouse. Although Russ and Pam import their materials and wares from many parts of the world, their primary source is Brazil. They travel there annually (usually in October – November, when it is spring in that part of the world) in order to purchase the materials, which they then wholesale to stores worldwide.
The Murphys' shop is a bit smaller and has much the same materials. One exception is a Ice Age fossil Cave Bear Skeleton, 30-40,000 years old. This ancestor of the modern day grizzly bear was descovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia and acquired by the Shoemakers in April 2006.
Do yourself a favor and stop by this extraordinary establishment and treat yourself to a journey back in time. Tell them Victor sent you.
Russ and Pam Shoemaker can be contacted at:
Stories in Stones Angel Camp
1249 So. Main Street, P.O. Box 578
Angels Camp, California 95222
Phone: (209) 736-1300
Fax:(209) 736-1380
Stories in Stones Murphys
78 Scott St., P.O. Box 493
Murphys, California 95247
Phone: (209) 728-8890
Email Address: storiesinstones@earthilink.net
For more information about Russ and Pam and Stories in Stones go to: www.storiesinstones.com/draft.
Victor Claveau
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