A Little Piece of History

I have been fascinated with the city of Pompeii and the story of Mount Vesuvius' eruption since I was in grade six. I remember reading a story about a boy and his dog being buried in the volcanic ash and I went to the library that afternoon and read as much as I could about the topic. Over the years, every now and then I get hit with the urge to find new books and relearn all that I can about the historic eruption that buried the city. It's just an amazing story...both the eruption and the rediscovery of the city in the early 1900s. Bodies were discovered in the exact position as they lay dying...covering their faces or protecting their loved ones. In some instances, the wrinkles in their clothes were perfectly preserved. Amazing.

Back in October, when my parents went to Germany to visit my sister, they booked themselves on a two week tour of Italy. A part of their tour included a trip to Pompeii. I asked my parents if they could scoop me a couple of rocks from the city. While on the tour, my mother was very sneaky about how she collected her stones. Every so often, she would bend down to tie her shoe and at the same time, she would grab a few rocks in her hand and when she stood up, she would place them in her pocket. In total, she collected four or five small pebbles of volcanic rock...the same stones that fell from the sky, killed thousands of people and buried the entire city. My dad, on the other hand, dawdled off away from the tour and found himself standing at the edge of the massive amphitheater. He lifted up his foot and with a couple of swift heel kicks, knocked out a large chunk of the wall (about the size of an apple). I never did ask him where he concealed it because as he retold me the story, I was too busy laughing.

So, if you come to visit me and you look on my bookcase in the living room, you will find a display case that holds several different rocks and you won't need to question why they are there and what they mean. You will know that they fell from the sky on August 24th, 79 A.D. and I think that's pretty cool.