Coal

It was an unexpected find among the rocks and driftwood that had washed ashore at the very end of Minnesota Point.

Being the granddaughter of two coal miners, I recognized it immediately. "Check this out," I called out to my exercise buddy as I bent to pick up the dark black lump. The coal was unexpectedly light in my hand.

I had been searching for unusal rocks to take home to my son and already was happy with some granite and sandstone beauties we had found. Now I was downright excited. I thought of all the things I could tell my son about this "rock," even imagining him taking it to preschool on his sharing day.

Our family history, how coal is used, the likelihood of where it came from, how it came to be on the beach at Park Point, connecting the songs he's been hearing about men working and dying in the coal mines on Kathy Mattea's tribute CD, fossil fuels, global warming -- there are plenty of things to learn from that one black lump.