There isn't really a photo to accompany this one. Now that I've stated that, I realize that maybe I should've taken one. Regret gets me nowhere.
Our Mieralogy/Petrology group went out to the Ririe Reservoir dugway last Thursday to study some ash-flow units.
I wasn't really all that prepared for the trip -after some catch-up work in the lab, I just "showed up" at the scheduled departure time.
Well, to be brief, I had no eye protection, and I ended up having a wind-blown pumice fragment caught in my eye-lid. My eye was irritated, red, sore, and watering. I knew better than to rub it; silicate materials can scratch your cornea.
After working out insurance details with the accountants at the school, I made a visit to the local eye-doctor. He inverted my upper eye-lid, found the fragment, and removed it with a cotton swab.
I had been trained from my earliest days in Geology to always wear eye-protection in the field. I realize the importance of this rule now.
A few people in the class weren't able to come on the trip, and so I'm heading back to the site tomorrow afternoon to help supplement what they've missed. This time, I'll be taking my camera, a water bottle, and, of course, some eye-protection.
Now that I've gone and told the story, maybe I'll throw in a pretty picture -just for the sake of enjoying the blessing of good vision. OK, so maybe I'll throw in a picture of the culprit, just to make my peace; here it is -pumice.
After looking at that picture in detail, I realized that my rock hammer bears the reminder: wear eye protection. A good rule of thumb, not just for hammer use.
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