Fossil Score!

On Friday, Carla and I got out to enjoy the beautiful weather after the storms. I focused my efforts on spreading straw on the raised beds, and in doing so, noticed several patches of Johnsongrass that I needed to dig out. Last year, things got away from us quite a bit, as Simmey (aka the Simster) was old enough to start seriously get into anything and everything with his newfound proficency in footing, and Carla was fully occupied with caring for our new little baby boy, Silas.

So the Johnsongrass needed to be dug out. While doing so hit a rock in some thick clay, and pulled out this monster fossil:and the flip side:Pretty awesome. I'm about 99% sure it's the remnant of an ancient branching coral. Eons ago, this whole area was a shallow sea, and this guy was once part of it. I've found a lot of fossils here on our property, but most are only the size of my thumbnail- crinoids, bits of coral, the occasional shark's tooth, but nothing like this. It's huge and about the size of my hand. Awesome.