Panning for gold

Have you ever tried it?
What did you find?



I've always wanted to try it, but I don't believe there's gold in them chalk hills of the Chilterns around where I live

My husband is a prospector. We lived on a mining claim in the 1980's. Panning became a way of life. I hated it. *girn* He would go again in a minute if I said yes. It is true about Gold Fever. Once you get it, it never goes away. *sigh*

No, If I want gold I open my jewelry box and grab a chain --it is much easier.

I am lazy.

Sue, I guess if you find a few nuggets at the end of a hard days panning... it becomes gold fever...

Alice, me too.
Then there is the fun of looking for some untold riches to be found in some quantity of river silt.

I've often wondered how things in the natural world mimic fruit machines and petty gambling, like betting on a horse, or playing the stock market.
If you kept losing, bet after bet, you'd stop gambling altogether wouldn't you?

If you panned and panned and panned for many days on end and never found a single yellow glint in the silt, you'd stop panning altogether wouldn't you?

See how things are similar? Weird...

Ahad,
I'm told it is an obsession. They keep thinking of all the time/money invested and feel if they continue they will eventually win.

I have panned for gold (as a tourist) at one of the old gold mines in
Dahlonega, Georgia. They have a long trough where they dump a
wheelbarrow load of tailings from the mine. Water runs through it
continuously and tourists line up on both sides and pan away.

I found a few apwcks (that's specks in Brew-speak) in about three hours. Still it was fun!

Blwaa me! Are there any apwcks in Kwwchiw, Brww?

Hopefully none as bad as that, Shwlsgh.



That'll teach me to type in the dark, and then not proofread.

Dear Ahad,
You are a prospector searching the skies for new stars, comets, black holes, white holes, little nebula. All of these new finds are better than gold in a river. They are absolutely new discoveries.

Gold that has been planted in a river for you to find cannot compare. Even gold that just passed by on a river you were panning cannot compare to what you can do panning the skies. It is a rare person who understands the heavens, knows the maps of them like you do.

You are so humble with your knowledge.

My family searches the Florida beaches for old teeth and bones from prehistoric animals. My son has an eye and a determination for finding them. He has mastedon teeth that are huge and so many artifacts that have washed upon the beach. He loves that stuff.
Myself, I have every beautiful shell that my children found in the olden days and brought to me to admire and every one my grand children brought to me and every one my great grand has thought was beautiful. I put them into fancy jars and keep them forever for the memories.

You are a star pilot. Shine forth.

Love,
Betty

Betty,
Collecting prehistoric dinosaur bones and teeth is a really exciting hobby. Your son sounds a very imaginative and adventurous person who likes to look beyond the hear and now. My kind of things..

It can take you back millions of years to jurassic times (loved that film 'Jurassic Park') and triassic times and cretacious times and .. well, a lot of other prehistoric times before people walked the earth.

Panning for gold or panning for fossils and other treasures is great fun. Gold has commercial value, whereas other things have sentimental value.

When people pan for people... ah, but then it becomes called 'exploitation'. Companies head-hunt people for the top professions and film companies recruit only the fit people for the 'A' list roles... This one of the reasons why people in my culture hate their kids to go into film or drama. But that's another story I guess..

Betty Fasig wrote:

Dear Ahad,
You are a prospector searching the skies for new stars, comets, black holes, white holes, little nebula. All of these new finds are better than gold in a river. They are absolutely new discoveries.

Betty,
I agree with you. Space, the new frontier.

In years gone by, we panned a couple of rivers in northern Wa. but only found garnets! It was fun, but I am not going to go back for more.

I agree that you are a prospector of the skies, Ahad.

Zada and Abe, really genuinely and very honestly... straight from the heart ... I'll tell you prospecting the night sky is a very soul satisfying pastime.

Trouble then is, since we've barely scratched the few millimeters of outer space above the stratosphere of our planet (metaphorically speaking), we have much to write about and even more to contemplate about.

Just about every theory I have publicised or statement of fact I discovered in astronomy, turns out to be a "celestial aura" about me of some distant possibility. For the rest of my days, I shall then be left contemplating over them!

When do you guys think the first child will be conceived in outer space? Or will be given birth to in outer space?

You thought of it, you and your wife can do it.

I am glad you will get no compeititon from me.

Ahad,
that's an interesting thought. With Americans, citizenship is determined by place of birth. Can't imagine what citizenship would be granted to this child.
As far as getting volunteers to do some conceiving in outer space, I think there would a waiting list.

Great new avatar, Abdul!

Shelagh,
I snapped it this morning by holding the camera at arms length.

Abe,
A child born outside the homely comforts of Mother Earth. How strange a notion it sounds. If it happened onboard the ISS, a child will experience 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets in any given 24-hour period:

http://www.space-explorers.org/committees/ecology/sunrise.html

Good discussion, Ahad. And I like the new avatar too.

Interesting post on "Panning for Martian gold."
I think it will create a lively discussion. Perhaps the next survey of Mars will give attention to mineral deposits.

zadaconnaway wrote:

And I like the new avatar too.

Thank you.

My wife thinks I look like I'm about to hit somebody!!