A little indulgence

I admit it. I'm a sucker for moonstone. I have been ever since I saw a drawing of it in a mineral book years back (rediscovered the same book in a box in the garage recently...). The play of light and hint of milky blue in an opaque base is marvellous!

I'm a sucker for opals too, except they have a lot more fire in them. I have a few cut opals and one raw piece of stone with an opal vein in it, given to me years ago by an old guy in Australia (who later asked for my hand in marriage, but I refused - the age gap of more than 50 years was a bit off-putting! :) ).

Whenever my son and I wander malls, we inevitably end up in front of jewellery stores. He's a sucker for crystals, so we go drooling after the shiny, the sparkly, the gigantic, the unique. The bigger the better - and we know it's just wishing, as we'd never be able to fork out so much cash for a little bright rock.

But I have been hankering after a rather large moonstone ring (a bit like this one, image at right), set in silver. I know I can't afford it, and the wearing of jewellery is not encouraged here at work, especially excessive jewellery (another quirk in the rules that I don't see eye-to-eye on, but nevermind). So if I were to find a spare few hundred bucks lying around and bought it, I'd have to save it for special occasions.

But I'm thinking.... (which is generally a dangerous persuit for a blonde)

If anyone asks what I want for my birthday, I'm going to ask for cash (or a gift voucher for a massage, hot rock treatment, floatation tank time perhaps). I won't hand over my own money for a triviality like ornamentation, but I may be willing to hand over someone else's! :)

You see, yesterday my son and I did a quick trip to the shops to restock the food basics, ending up at a newly-built mall we hadn't visited yet. And right outside our grocery place was a tiny shop with the most incredible semi-precious stone goodies! Of course, we had to stop and drool on the windows. And there, front and centre, was the most incredible, huge moonstone ring I've ever seen! If you're going to wear a ring, make it worth noticing! And this is...

Unfortunately it's priced at around R450, way out of my league. And so are the other absolutely-incredible ones there. They have some beautifully unique goodies.

Of course, my concience starts kicking in when I think about cash and ornamentation. I could use that money for a whole lot of other, much more needed things. (Which is a moot point, as I don't have the money in the first place) I don't really need to spend piles on trinkets. So I'm torn between my desire for something beautiful, and the practical stuff.

Silly me. Nevertheless, I keep dreaming, and drooling on windows, and enthusing over moonstone. Whether I get my heart's desire or not, that isn't going to change. :)