Opal

I grew up in South Australia where a lot of opal is mined. Most of those mines were far off in the outback as far as I know, but I spent most of my years in less regional areas.

I remember in primary school we read a book about a kid who mined opal. I can't really remember it too well, but I think he found a vein in an old mine, and he mined it out and sold it? And that caused trouble somehow. Maybe someone died. We were about ten when we read it, I think, and in my memory it was quite a dark book for kids that young. I wish I could recall the name of it. I'd like to flick through it and see how it holds up compared to my memory.

It's funny how sometimes you form opinions simply based on what your parents said to you and you took on board without realising it. It's not until you're and adult that you start to examine some of your beliefs and come to see that the opinion you've held isn't actually your opinion at all.

For some reason Mum didn't like opals. She has some weird hang up about them being bad luck. I can't remember why but she never had anything with opal on it, and I remember her showing almost disgust at pieces of jewelry with opal. I took this opinion on board without ever examining why. Now, I have no feelings towards opals either way. Jewlery and precious stones are not something I put any energy or thought towards. Sure, some things are shiny and sparkly. But why would I spend money on them?