petrified wood – Georneys

Petrified wood in front of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, June 2014. — Petrified wood in front of the Smithsonian Natural History museum, June 2014.

My apologies for the light blogging recently. I was traveling in the US for three weeks, and now I am traveling for work for 6 weeks. I will do my best to blog when I can, but blogging may continue to be light for a little while longer since I’m currently working 12 hour shifts in the field. However, when I return in September I will be taking some time off, and I have a few bigger blog posts planned. So, stay tuned… and thank you for your patience!

I do have a little time today to share a few geology pictures. During my recent visit to the US, I visited Washington, DC, for a day. My husband had never been to DC before, so we went to The Mall, visited various memorials, and walked past The White House. We also spent a significant amount of time touring two of the Smithsonian museums: the Air and Space museum and the Natural History museum.

When we arrived at the entrance to the Natural History museum, we could tell right away that the museum was going to be great fun to visit. That’s because flanking the entrance to the museum are a few giant rocks! Specifically, a giant boulder of banded ironstone and two tall pieces of petrified tree.

Here are a couple more pictures of the petrified tree pieces:

Another view of the petrified wood in front of the Smithsonian, June 2014.

Informational sign for the petrified wood, June 2014.

And here’s a view of the giant banded ironstone boulder:

Banded ironstone boulder in front of the Smithsonian Natural History museum, June 2014.

Informational sign for the banded ironstone, June 2014.

Sure enough, my husband and I found plenty more wonderful rocks– and gemstones and fossils and taxidermy animals and skeletons and archaeological artefacts– inside the museum. I had visited the museum a few times before, but I hadn’t been in quite a few years. I’ll have to share a few more pictures from our visit to the museum when I have a chance. Has anyone else been to the Smithsonian Natural History museum recently?

Petrified log at Kirstenbosch Gardens, held by my husband. — Petrified log at Kirstenbosch Garden, held by my husband.

My apologies again for the light blogging recently. My day job as an industry geologist has been keeping me extremely busy over the past couple of months. However, on Friday my husband and I are to the US for a much-needed three weeks of vacation, including spending time with friends and family whom we see far too rarely. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze in a little time for blogging during our vacation. Otherwise, I’ll do my best to pick up the blogging again in about a month. In the meantime, the “Monday Geology Picture” posts will have to tide you over until I can settle down for some real blogging.

Today, I thought I would share some more pictures of the petrified wood that my husband and I recently saw at Kirstenbosch Garden here in our home city of Cape Town, South Africa. Enjoy! True geologists, my husband and I spent far more time looking at the “trees of stone” than at the real trees of the botanical garden.