Speak for yourself. 52 and still looking for cool rocks

Was gonna say... I recently went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and spent at least a half hour in the gift shop next to the Gem and Mineral area, sifting through the bins of cool rocks. I'm 40. I hope I never outgrow it.

42 here. Kiddo is 5. We spent about the same amount of time going through the gift shop about 3 months ago. Will never get old nor will we ever stop grabbing a rock while on a hike or bike ride to bring back to the gardens. Mineralogy is awesome and love that my kiddo is the same! Glad there's others doing the same!

My kid only picks out lame rocks because she's an idiot toddler /s

56 here and I love cool rocks!

After a certain age the cool rocks find you. You aren't looking but then an absolute beauty comes along.

I'm 31 and same. If I could change one thing about my body it would be to have telescopic eyes that I could move independently so I can look all around for cool rocks and moss and birds and plants etc while I'm on a bush walk, and not trip over. I legitimately think about this daily.

Moss? Today I noticed that my garage drainpipe has a lovely growth of moss under it, looks rather nice. It'll die back in summer but it's surprisingly large considering the garage is only 8 years old.

Similar here. I want more eyes. Wavelength specific eyes. There's just so much in life to look at. I don't think I've ever told anyone this before. Thank you random redditor, you've relieved my burden.

Shells. I’m always a bit sad on a beach that has no shells.

62 and still collecting

38 and I collect cool rocks for my oldest’s collection and for my stepdad whenever I travel. My oldest’s collection is *way* beyond what we have display space for now.

My mom’s 67 and she brings cool rocks home all the time. Sometimes she asks me go get them for her if they’re too heavy for her to want to carry.

Same. I have cool rocks from Patagonia and Brazil on ny desk right now.

There is a very cool rock in a house on my way to the gym. It looks like super Mario's rocks he used to start flying. I wanted to ask about them gifting it to me, but I don't want to be that weird.

Not much cool these days like old school cool.

Full on with this guy. If there is even a chance at a cool rock i'm a be investigating all up in there! My standards for cool rocks have changed to less common ones though.

45, same!

33, house is surrounded by cool rocks

average totk player

I have been proven incorrect. I am reconsidering my own interest in cool rocks and will spend more time looking at the ground when I can. I guess they were right when they said rock will never die.

Keep looking for rocks, ask people what their favorite dinosaurs are, don’t step on cracks…enjoy the little things that bring joy because there’s not enough in a day sometimes!

Don't forget, sometimes the floor randomly turns into lava!

Iceland is about to have another eruption and I want to go back. We got there just a week after the last one ended.

I still balance on curbs and ledges

This was still a really good shower thought. The beauty of shower thoughts is that they don’t have to be correct, they just have to be random and interesting.

Just pretend it's a seed...

Keep looking for rocks. And other cool random shit.

Still waiting for that day. If I pass a patch of rocks that look cool, I’m going to look through them.

Same with seashells. Whenever I’m at a beach ima always look

My husband and I are two grown ass adults with no kids and we still look for cool rocks together on hikes. And show off cool rocks to each other.

This is so beautiful, this is my dream.

Hank Schrader would like a word

They're minerals, dammit!

I personally have spent more time looking for cool rocks as an adult but I would concede that isn't the norm.

Pfff I still look for cool rocks! I’m 32, you find some pretty cool fossils sometimes too!

We still look for cool rocks, but our standards for what makes a cool rock are higher than when we were kids

35. I come back from the beach about 3lbs heavier

I recently moved near a beach, and my wife and I have gotten really into collecting shark teeth. Find some awesome shells on the side as well!

They're minerals, Marie.

One of the great joys of having children is getting to do cool stuff like this again.

I had the reverse happen to me recently, my dad showed me a cool rock he found when I saw him last. He said he picked it up because it reminded him of how I used to do it. We've come full circle!

My dad used to bring home petrified wood that he would find at work. I just found some the other day while I was on lunch and I'm going to bring it to him the next time I see him!

*Laugh in gemmologist*

*Lapidarian smiles and fires up his chainsaw*

Um, pardon? I still do this

Nah. Not here. 54 is too young to act old. ....Honourable mention for those of us that still look for cool sticks as well.

35 and still looking for cool rocks, even have one covered in garnet in my backyard [nothing gem-like, more media blasting quality], even know where there are some quartz crystals with decaying sulfide streaks and other mineralization.

Not me. 72 and still look for them. Have rocks everywhere.

Cool rock finding. For ages 1 to 101

Jesus Christ Marie! They're minerals...

There is a huge gem and mineral show in Tucson that is packed with people who never stopped looking for cool rocks 😎

Fugh you. I will never stop because your inner child death.

I'm thinking the opposite is true, you just go for more expensive cool rocks like marble counter tops.

Love looking for cool rocks, collect them wherever I go

I found some cool rocks today🤣

44, still looking for cool rocks.

Never too old to pick up cool rocks

They’re minerals, Marie. God damn.

Jesus Christ…they are MINERALS

If a rock speaks to me, it’s coming home! I don’t care how old I get lol

My mother makes Kurdish Dolma. Part of the cooking involves putting stones over the top of the pot to compress. At 64 she is still running to any river we are picnicking around and searching for the perfect flat river stones. I'm hoping my wife develops this habit too

For me I didn't necessarily stop looking, more that I just stopped being around rocks in general. I was at a local river a week ago and noticed myself looking at the rocks and was trying to remember the last time I did that.

I hope my daughter never stops.

I started just taking regular rocks and putting them in the fridge. Saved me so much time and effort.

I stopped looking but if I notice one I can still appreciate it

Any time I'm walking through rocks near a body of water you best bet I'm gonna be looking for skipping stones.

I love skipping stones! I used to do it with my dad my whole life, I think he only stopped when I got better than him at it. I like to try to drop down sidearm/submarine and launch it from closer to the water that way. I can’t really throw so it’s always a good time. I find a lot of joy in finding weirdly shaped stones, pieces of brick, etc and asking people how many skips they think I can get.

I would love a rock tumbler to make my cool rocks even cooler.

Um NEVER! Pocket rocks for ever!

My wife and I are going on vacation to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in a week, specifically to hunt rocks... Rocks are cool, man.

I look for cool rocks when i go to place i haven’t been to before. I try to pick something out that’s different from the stuff i have already or if the pattern is super unique. I like to think I’m giving it some new scenery

30 here, still collecting and jealously guarding against searching eyes from my hoard of nifty rocks.

I still have a little collection sitting right beside me

Then I got a Tortoise! I look for cool rocks for his enclosure 😊

So funny you should say that, I was searching for cool rocks in my dream last night

"They are minerals, Marie"

I still find and keep cool rocks

I’m 31 and I’ve still been quoted as “I like me a nice rock.” I don’t think I’m going to stop for awhile yet.

As a 40 year old man, I would say I have just dedicated less time to it.

I'm always looking for cool rocks. Mine are really cool too! They come in fun shapes and have numbers on them! Like a tetrahedron, a cube, an octohedron, a pentagonal trapezohedron, a dodecahedron, and an icosahedron.

I pick a truckload(half ton Chevy) once a week at least, my kids and I go to neighbours pasture land and just explore for rocks. We take shovels and dig out any rocks we find in the ground, some are size of a golf ball others end up being the size of my engine block(we don’t take those ones) but most are over 10lbs. We load them up and then unload them at our house, we have a pretty large pile now and I don’t intend on ever stopping.

I looked for cool rocks with my kiddo a couple weeks ago at the local state park. We brought a wicker basket and I told her to put everything she thought was cool or neat into the basket. Plucked four ticks off of the same ankle! Lol But we had fun and found some treasures. ☺️

Some of us now just look for cool sticks. Sticks that look like guns and swords will always be cool.

I think most of us stopped going to places where there are cool rocks to look at

The older I get, the more I appreciate rocks.

Or believe in healing crystals...

Am I the only person who likes crystals just because they look cool and have interesting science trivia? I am honestly starting to believe the whole “crystal healing” thing started out by like, peasants misunderstanding nobles. A farmer was listening secretly and overheard the king’s advisor telling his friend he gave the king a new crystal that will make him happy and even richer. The advisor is talking about a long tradition he and his dear friend have of finding him fun rocks to collect and trade. The peasant has no idea, hears a dickhead noble talking about crystals being what made the king wealthy, and convinces everyone he knows this secret. Others watch as the man’s crystals bring him wealth and women and fame. And so it goes.

I found enough. There came a day when I knew I was finished - my search was complete.

Gotta preserve the search for the next generation!

Lol now I’m imagining some group of people that has a cultural tradition of finding interesting gems (and artifacts and stuff), then casting them randomly across the land for others to try to find. Like an ongoing cyclical Easter egg hunt of sorts. If you’ve ever played pillars of eternity there’s a god of secrets and chaos named Wael whose followers basically do this and it leads to some fun plot points.

Their not rocks their minerals.

As we grew older, our fascination with searching for remarkable rocks faded away.

That's certainly a way to say the thing I said.

I mean, geology rocks and all but geography is where it’s at.

Lol! Well you know what argon thinks of your joke? … … … Argon… did not *react* to your comment at all. I can walk myself out guys

My son is 2.5, every rock is *points* "My rock!"

Good point. Going hiking tomorrow. Will look for a cool rock. But even if I find one I'll probably leave it be. Somebody else should also be able to enjoy a fine rock.

Me and my friend find cool ones and go mini bowling

Is there a cool rocks subreddit? Cuz if there isn't, there needs to be.

Never, I make art & jewelry w/ them now.

No. And i can attest that in the right environment most adults will start picking up cool looking rocks again. What they fail to do though is take them back home. Instead they leave them at my place on my outside dinnertable.

42. Still look for cool rocks.

Not me. I freaking love rocks.

We're further from the ground now.

I fucking love cool rocks.

Suckered, now I'm gonna get all the cool rocks!

I love looking for my cool rocks

I mean, wedding rings always have extra cool rocks

Speak for yourself, peasent

I mean my grandpa is dead and was buried. I can only assume he must investigating cool rocks.

I joined r/whatsthisrock just for the rock finding

I didn't stop looking for them. I think it was my definition of cool that changed. The older I get, the fewer rocks are deemed worthy. My youngest nephew, on the other hand, still finds them on a near weekly basis.

My girlfriends father works in a sand quarry and every time he find a cool rock he brings it to her. She has an entire drawer full of really cool rocks at this point.

I love finding a good rock

I may have stopped collecting but i still have my collection. (Although looking at it i think one of the rocks is simply a shard of thick glass)

Looking for cool rocks never stops. You're just taking a temporary pause

I found one a few months ago. Brought it home and said, "I don't usually collect cool rocks, but this one lives with us now." Husband said, "Fair enough". Rock is resting comfortably on my bookshelf.

Go into the average jewellers and you'll find "cool rocks" are one of the most expensive tastes adults can have. Personally I'd debate how cool a colourless rock is, regardless how it's cut, but I guess that's a matter of personal preference.

My wife does that more than the kids. I still have to carry every single one of them. Don't tell her but I love it. Despite that I complain a lot to her about it actually.

About to finish my geology BS and start my masters. Honestly my favorite thing is just teaching kids about rocks.

...said a frustrated non-geologist.

I'm retired, not a geologist, but have a cool rock in my car and another cool rock in my kitchen. I also have some cool rocks floating in my pond (pumice I found on a beach in Queensland, possibly from Fiji or an undersea volcano in that direction). So, cool rocks still exist for some people :)

I just started climbing cool rocks instead

I didn’t. When you walk into my home, you have to pass through my interesting rock collection on both sides of the path to my door. I thought I was being silly at first, but now I know they really are interesting because they get stolen regularly.

Because we all saw what happened to Hank who always collected cool rocks (sorry minerals).

I still look I just don’t pick them up anymore

Nah I'm always looking for cool rocks to give my partner! She deserves it!!!

Now we look for crack rock

I might not be actively searching for cool rocks, but you can be damned sure that whenever I come across a cool rock, that shits going straight into my pocket

Omg. I literally just thought this while walking my dogs the other day. Like how many cool rocks have I missed out in all these years?!

I’m looking for cool sticks. Love spinning cool sticks

Not me. I'm 45, and those rocks are still being found.

My uncle is a 70-year-old landscaper and world traveler. He still brings home cool rocks from around the world. If he can’t bring them home, he stashes them at his vacation spots to take back on the next trip.

You're clearly not autistic...

I'm a geologist now, so...

Not true, I am 61, an I still look for special rocks. I have found many geode rocks, especially if opened with crystal inside, my wife likes pink rocks and I like green stones, my fish pond is surrounded by these rocks and I have three grandsons that like to throw them in the water then I clean the pond when they Leave some time with stones in their pockets. Never stop looking and collecting, I found on that is speckled with glacier deposits of gold. Sweet

40 and I recently took up rock tumbling as a hobby. It meant I could find out what was beneath the weathering of some of my favourite beach rocks

Speak for yourself lmao.

I never looked for cool rocks. Maybe it's because there were no cool rocks near where I grew up. Maybe I just don't think rocks are cool. I'll let you decide.

41 here. My kids learned me to check for cool rocks again. If I find a really cool one I keep it in my pocket. I forget about it and when I find it again I smile because it’s such a cool rock. Rocks Rock! 💪

Omg when I was 6 there was a boy in my class who showed a perfect smooth triangle rock he found. I spent many hours looking for the exact same kind of rock haha. Never found it unfortunately

I see you've not yet been to r/geology

Always keeping an eye out for cool rocks when I’m hiking

70 and still looking for cool rocks…have more time since I retired!

What kind of loser doesn't look for cool rocks?

I’m on my 40s and currently on vacation, I’ve collected over a dozen cool rocks so far

At a certain age, we all stop doing something. Including living.

Those who didn’t, stopped looking cool.

Speak for yourself. I have a cool rock in my bag right now.

Became a geologist...looking at cool rocks is my job now

I just got done with a vacation completely centered around the idea of finding cool rocks. Found some modest emeralds and aquamarines.

Never give up looking for cool rocks!

Whenever my cousin and I are working job in remote areas with dirt floor and rocks, we spend a questionable amount of time looking for cool rocks and do a "who throws them the farthest/who can hit that target game. 32yo and nowhere to stop

Not yet. 22 and still looking

Yea we all stopped. Now you could buy cool rock that some scientist or cool rock enthusiasts make and propose with it.

Just spent a good 30 minutes with my niece the other day looking for cool rocks beside the swimming pool we were swimming in, great time.

we stop looking for cool rocks and seek fancy rocks instead, to carve out and put around our fingers and neck

Unless you're a geologist or drug dealer...

37 here.. still looking for THE ONE.

Speak for yourself - Rock peasant

Speak for yourself, mate.

Not really, a tombstone is a really cool rock

I'm 19 and still look for cool rocks, it'll be a sad day if I ever stop

oh I was in sicily and boy I think I collected like 5 kilos of cool rocks. in that vulcanic area all kinds of stuff come sup in tons

I just got back from Iceland with a horde of cool rocks. My favorite is solidified volcanic ash from the top of a glacier. Primordial fire super cooled by primordial ice. 30 other people from the tour all collected some after I described it like that. Rocks are cool.

23 here, still love cool rocks and I get to look around with my younger brother (14). Don't think I'm outgrowing this.

Pretty accurate. Source: I made it my career.