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4.81 grams.   Martian (nakhlite)

TKW 10 kg. Observed fall 28 June 1911, Al Buhayrah, Egypt.

       

Kevin writes:

On February 9, 1997 I was with Al Lang at the Tucson show as he did surgery on a precious Nakhla specimen cut from Herbert Obodda's 9 gram specimen. And somewhere among my boxes of video tapes unwatched in 30 years is the moment the former specimen developed a split personality. Great theater!

I traded in a smaller specimen of around two grams I had won in one of the major auctions, maybe the Philipps Auction. Al created an emergency room vibe and tented the area around his work to capture any flying fragments as he held a hammer and tiny spatula, and with a single, firm stroke, created for me the most perfect and historic Nakhla piece that one could never conceive of, my records advise a weight of 4.81 grams.

I've asked Blaine for his opinion on the value of this specimen, and he deferred. It is not being offered here, but wouldn't we all be even slightly interested in a value considering how rarely any is even seen anymore?

Please permit me to take another moment to share something that I carefully planned and have seemingly achieved. I live in a zone and altitude where climate change is predicted to have little impact on the temperatures or copious rainfall. I bought land in 2014 on top of a western Costa Rican mountain and removed the dead coffee and treelike weeds. Then due to the steepness that at once caused a major landslide, I terraced it. The location is ideal for a lasting preserve. I am above a public potable water resource and law protects the surrounding forest in perpetuity.

I planted the rich volcanic soil to a British-style semi-tended garden, with trails, a canopy view deck, and now growing denser by the second with multi-species of rainforest flowers, plants and trees, many just show up, unannounced. This area was deforested one hundred years ago to supply lumber for San Jose housing. If the returning and increasing number of bird species is an indicator, the bird song often the only sound louder than the breeze, and if Blue-Crowned Mot Mots, various toucans and hordes of nesting Hummers is a sign of its popularity, Mother Earth is winning here.

From Nine Degrees North.