Oh, I Forgot to Mention…

In my last post concerning geodes and agate I forgot to mention that Kentucky Agate became Kentucky’s “Official State Rock” in 2000.  Numerous websites point out that this may be confusing, because scientifically agate is considered a variety of the mineral quartz.  The Kentucky Geological Survey considers this designation “unfortunate”—not because the organization has anything against this semiprecious gem but because, as I mentioned, agate is truly a mineral, not a rock.  However, agate could not have been named the official state mineral because two years earlier, coal, which scientifically speaking is a rock, had already been named the official state mineral.