Garnet Collectors Ho!

Well, gumshoes, it's been a red-letter day. Got a new flapper for the toilet. Installed the flapper. In between all this and many other things, we went for a dunk at Ye Olde Swimming Hole. There was another vehicle around, and some bicyclists, so we were worried that there'd be a lot of people splashing around. I only saw two folks though, and they were upstream just sitting on rocks apparently. Once I got in the water, I discovered why. It was, as they say, quite brisk.
It didn't stop me though. I've got a thing about following through with the swim on a hot day, no matter if the water is cold. Around here, where I don't know too many swimming spots (after a dry summer no less), you take what you can get.
The last few times, the water has been still enough on the surface to see the bottom, which is quite nice! Only saw one fish today though. Another thing I really like about this swimming hole at this time of year is the presence of floating leaves. Black water mirroring autumn leaves is bitchin'.
In the sand at the edge of the river, I noticed lots of garnet and revealled to Trixie that one of my favorite yet seldom-indulged-in hobbies is sifting through sand and picking out garnets. Suprisingly, she was up for about an hour of such sifting and *I* was the one who had to call off the mining expedition.
Helpful hint: when collecting tiny stones, you can store them between your gums and lower lip. I heard somewhere that south african diamond miners tried this to smuggle diamonds out of mines. It works well.
Trixie found a crawdad hiding under a rock. I found a fishhook. We both found garnets. I want to go back and get more, building up a small collection which we can keep underwater in a sunlit glass jar. Perhaps we can go on mini-expeditions to garnet-rich areas.
I am one satisfied part-time rockhunting dork.