Singing the Hole in the Left Boot Blues

I stood up from my desk the other day and declared "I'm going fossil hunting." Then I left and went fossil hunting. Its about a 10 minute walk from my house to my favorite spot, so I had some time to ponder the legalities of hunting fossils in Summerville and specifically how the spot I was walking towards would be affected. I have been hunting this spot for years, and now it seems that the anti-fossil movement is trying to harsh my mellow. I just couldn't understand why anyone would want to stop us from hunting here.

I entered the creek my thoughts turned serious - I could not let myself be emotionally distracted from the fossil hunt at hand. I was honing my craft for the upcoming Lee Creek collecting season. I concentrated my chi on serrated objects and cleared my mind of distractions. Almost immediately, I saw the effects of the previous night's rainfall. Small teeth abounded, and I scooped up everything sharp and pointy. The first bit of deep water revealed that my left boot had passed the waterproof stage of its life and would soon enter the next phase as landfill resident.

I approached my favorite part of the ditch when suddenly the reality of current events came raging back. I saw cavernous, gaping holes dug deep into the banks. I saw the results of reckless disregard for property and fossil hunting etiquette. Immediately I understood why the police have been issuing tickets to fossil hunters. I took some pictures to share, and I'm sure most rational people will agree that this is the root of the problem. Why wouldn't the government step in to curb this kind of criminal behavior?

I consoled myself by telling myself that there was nothing wrong with responsible collecting. No one could stop me from walking through this ditch and picking up rocks... Yet. I continued to pick up fossil shark teeth in great numbers and soon forgot about the predicament. On the way out of the creek, I found a fossilized deer molar in really great shape.

Still through the whole hunt, I didn't find anything really large. I blamed the large amount of sediment in the bottom of the stream. I was happy with the deer molar, though, so I walked with a smile. Then, I spied a place where some utility work had been completed and there were a few little pieces of gravel laying around. I jumped down into the little ditch and saw a pretty big tooth laying just a few feet away, completely exposed. It's 2 3/4 inches long and in really nice condition. I haven't found anything that large in a while!