Jabo 5/8" Run - October 5-6,
2006
By
I've gone and done it. I did have a reputation for
being death on Hyped marbles. Actually, I didn't fully live up to the principle
(whatever it was) 'cause over the past 19+ years, I've either participated in or
contributed solely to at least three or four marble names. Have to admit
amazement that the Alox Blue Phantom and Green Phantom never caught on. Probably
because I'd never seen any other green ones than the two I have. Now the Blue
Phantom, that's another matter. They're out there…somewhere. Gotta be, because
I've got at least a couple dozen. Maybe they're an acquired taste. If you heard
me talk about them, you'd have to have one.
Anyway, then comes along this October 5-6, 2006 Jabo
run. Dave McCullough gave Mike Johnson and I a 15 to 20 pound box of them. More
or less! It was a gift. Ungrateful lout that I am, it wasn't until a week ago
that I finally got to examining them seriously. That's the gist of it right
there. Yesterday, I named five of them and the sixth name was like a flash of
lightening. When you see the photographs, you'll agree. How could it be called
anything other than what it is…a SUPERMAN (Photos 1-2). And I have over 40 of
them. Unreal! Eat your heart out. Oops!
Photo 1
Photo 2
I know I'm going to get flak, even from buddies that
agree with my names. Well, I've got the perfect answer. Who isn't there among
you who wouldn't want to have been there when Akro and Peltier marbles were
working their way down the rollers and have been able to say, "I know that
marble!" And name it. Well, I can and I have now! Try it, you'll like it. Of
course, you need to know and love your marble and do it with respect and in a
spirit of good fun. I can tell you that these names felt as natural to me as a
marble dropping into the bucket.
Okay, put this marble in your pipe and smoke it. Say
hello to PRAIRIE SMOKE (Photos 3-4). I would maybe provide you with its family
association but I think it might be confusing right now. Just enjoy the
exquisite beauty of this marble. I think my photographs say it all. And I've
provided a flower representation of the marble, thanks to my Prairie Nursery
Native Plants and Seeds Catalog.
Photo 3
Photo 4
Believe me, it just gets better and better. Le me
introduce you to the OZARK CONEFLOWER (Photos 5-6). That's not
cornflower. There was something about the wonderful simplicity of this marble
and flower that matched up. I'll have to admit that I matched the flower to the
marble rather than the other way around. Did the chicken or the egg come first?
(*With apologies to Marlow Peterson, for whom this marble is already named,
although I suspect he'll get a kick out of his new Latin name - Echinacea
paradoxa.)
Photo 5
Photo 6
This marble, the PRAIRIE TRILLIUM (Photos 7-
,
has such richness of color and a distinction of topographical-like surface
etchings it rises to the top in its family of similarly bent brothers. Truly,
this is a marble not to be denied.
Photo 7
Photo 8
I will fully admit that the name
Photo 9
Photo 10
Then there's CARAMEL HEAVEN (Photos 11-12). I have
only 12 of this marble. It is fully edible, requiring the admonition "Not for
children under that age of 70", which I will eclipse next year. I ask you, how
could I possibly not name this marble!
Photo 11
Photo 12
I hope you have enjoyed this joy ride through just
one two day run of Jabo marbles. There's no telling what additional trouble I'll
be getting into as I have more time to get to know intimately these precious
gems.
March 21, 2008
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