Thoughts About Geodes - Those Hidden Crystal Worlds

Thanks to all of you for the various FaceBook suggestions. I sent the message out to my three nieces last night. I'll wait a few days to see if any of them respond and go from there. *Hugs* to each and every one of you. 

Geode cakes feature a cut into the side where
rock crystals are placed to replicate the shining
surfaces of geodes in nature. This cake, although
it is using fondant for the frosting, actually has
a rather nice geode interpretation. 

Did any of you catch the final episode of the Spring Baking Championship last night? The three final contestants were assigned a Geode Cake as their project, with five hours to make a layered cake of at least three layers with rock candy crystals that they had to make from scratch. It was fun to see the final cakes, but I wasn't all that impressed with their interpretations of geodes. Still - it was far better than I could have done, so silly me for criticizing at all. 

Amethyst geodes are quite common and feature
larger crystals of the well-known purple hued
stone. This one is particularly nice. 

Geodes in nature are so beautiful. The hollow insides filled with crystals are actually air bubbles caught in the rock formations while the rock was being formed. The crystals themselves are often quartz or calcite (there are other types also, but those two are the most common). The crystals range in color from clear through amethyst and everything in between. 

Here are some unbroken geode rocks. You can buy these
at your local rock shop, but (of course) Amazon also
sells them. As an aside, what did we ever do before
Amazon became the world's store and go-to place? 

At many festivals there will be a stand with "dinosaur eggs" or "crack your own geode" stations for kids and adults to experience the delight that can come with breaking the right thing. No vase on the floor here. Instead, they can crack open a roundish sphere of rock, using a hammer or device - whatever the stand is offering. Once cracked open, a new world is revealed to the light for the first time in long ages of geologic time. It's a magical moment for the purchaser as well as for the geode itself. 

A hammer is the traditional way to open geodes, but you don't
always get a good cut. Sometimes people will actually cut
them open using a rock saw. That takes more time, but can
give a more predictable result. 

Sometimes people are like geodes - very hard exteriors that are hard to get into, but insides that have unexpected depths and surprises. Sometimes it's worth the extra effort needed to crack that hard exterior, just to discover the beauty that lies hidden within. 

This lovely group of polished geodes give you an idea
about how different each stone can be. Just like people.
Variety is what makes the rocks, and each other,
fascinating and always a surprise. 

Here's hoping your day is fabulous and fantastic. Enjoy the geodes I've peopled this post with and I'll return tomorrow.