El Dorado

No matter how many times the kids at the day care and I play and walk around at our dirt pile, and no matter how many things we pick up and stuff in our pockets, I am tickled to death to find something really cool.  It's funny that out of all of the pointed and jagged and broken rocks and their many shades and colors I know a piece of flint when I see it.  And the piece I found Monday was the largest I have found ever.  So much so that when I first saw it sticking up like it had just rolled down the largest dirt pile, I questioned if it actually was flint until I held it.  It was way too big to be an arrowhead or even a piece of one.  It does however have an edge that has been "worked on" as Shaun and I say.  Meaning that an Indian, many many years ago, worked on the stone with another piece of stone to form a useful tool.  When I held this rock it immediately molded to my hand, my thumb on the top and two fingers wrapped around the bottom.  Oddly enough, when I showed it to Shaun later then evening, his hand held it exactly the same way instantly.  There's no question that this piece was used as some type of scraper.  Maybe it was used to skin a buck or a cutting tool because it sure had a sharp edge to it.  It is for sure the biggest piece I have found and excites me to no end that after two years of playing at this dirt pile, and three arrowheads and a scraper later, I am still finding relics of a time long ago.

Shaun disclosed to me last night that the area where we live and a bit of surrounding us used to be called "El Dorado Springs" and our road used to be El Dorado Road before the USPS changed a bunch or road names.   The springs of this area were said to have healing powers.  Explains why our woods calls to me to explore.  Judging from the artifacts that I find in this area from American Indians, it seems to have been a hot bed way before that even.  Maybe even for animals.  So interesting... I must know more.

I have often wondered what we could name our place... our home... our haven.  There is really no question of what it's name should be.  El Dorado... meaning... a place of fabulous wealth or opportunity.  Wealth in some eyes means money, in mine it means the love and treasures that I find in nature on our farm, our land, and in our home.

Our dirt pile.  Was an area that held water and flooded across our driveway when we would have heavy rains.  Shaun began to dig this out to prevent it and hopefully make a pond.  It may be because of the springs and underground water that it won't hold.  We have sold a lot of dirt from this area and found many small treasures and fun.

My latest find.

A natural fit.

The sharp edge.

Cool.  El Dorado.