Snakes and Stones

[Bogertophis]

You asked!

It is the middle of the night the day after Christmas (Pre-Corona)...I am exhausted from hopping from house to house visiting different relatives for dinner. I finally get to sleep after belly-aching from a variety of food intolerances (of which I ignore during the holidays). Everything is silent. Then:*BOOM* it sounds like a car crashes into the side of my house. I jump out of bed and trip on my blankets and hit the floor with my shoulder. My clock says 2:22AM (neat huh?). I immediately look out the window and see nothing. I make my way downstairs (now fully awake and pumped up with adrenaline). I still see no fires or wreckage out my windows. I get ready to go outside and I hit my garage door opener from the main house (my house is large-separate wings) and I don't hear the opener activate and nothing happens so I am a bit confused. I try to turn on my garage lights and nothing happens. I grab a flashlight, go into my garage in my bare feet and I immediately notice the floor is kinda wet. I shine the light on my feet and there is grey residue on the bottom of my feet. I go over to the GFI outlet reset and there is grey residue all over the outlet reset as well. I pop the reset, and the lights come on and I see filtered dim light as to my horror most of my garage and everything in it (including one side of my car) has been spray painted grey on the inside with an angular pattern emanating from one of my larger tumblers (which is now on the floor). There was less than one gallon of fluid in the barrel, but, it was enough to cover the floors, walls, and ceiling of every exposed surface for 1/2 my garage in the direction of the barrel lid. The remaining barrels were reactivated when I turned the circuit back on and they were actually bulging and shaking from the pressure build up. I immediately took them outside and opened them and the lids flew skyward and a grit slurry fountain shot upwards (think Mentos in grey Pepsi) as soon as I freed the bolt on top.

Anyhow, that is the story. Certain rocks/minerals have pressurized gas trapped inside (frequently volcanic origin); when they are tumbled and/or the temperature changes the gas is released and expands. Obsidian is notorious for redecorating many Rock Tumblers abodes. Nephrite/Jade are not tumbled frequently and I had read nothing about them having issues so I was totally not expecting this outcome...

I had NO idea this could happen! What a mess! But I guess it could have been worse too- at least you weren't standing next to it. I knew there was a good story just waiting... TKS!