Nuts and Bolts, Screws and Nails

This weekend Benjamin and I had a minor project we were working on that required the use of some roofing nails as well as some two inch wood screws.  I knew exactly where to find them.  They were in any number of containers on my work bench.  As I looked for the items, I had to laugh.  I'll bet most people are like me and have old coffee cans on their work bench that contain nuts and bolts, nails and screws.

While I do have some miniature coffee cans labeled with contents, I have other containers as well. The other containers are 'see-through' and don't require labels, for instance a roasted almonds container and some Juice Plus Gummi cannisters.

The older cannister with the green "5" sticker on the top that you see in the photo above had washers and brass fittings in it when I unscrewed it.  That cannister brought back some memories.  It is around 42 years old as best as I can estimate. It originally contained grit from a rock polisher that I got as a Christmas present when I was around 8 years old.  Did you ever have a rock polisher?

Rock polishing was so much fun!  You would put these ugly looking rocks into the tumbling barrel, add a little water and the grit and turn it on.  The little motor would spin for weeks on end, tumbling the rocks over and over.  From time to time, you would turn it off, open the barrel and wash off the rocks.  It was always fun to see the change that the friction caused to the stones from the last time you opened the tumbling barrel.  Then I would put in the next grit and start it tumbling again.

This would go on for weeks, repeating the steps above, until finally, you would open the barrel for the last time and your rocks would look like precious gems.  There would be blue stones, green ones, yellow and shiny black.  With the tumbler unplugged, the house seemed so quiet after listening to the rock polisher tumble for week after week.  It was nice to hold the polished stones in your hand, remembering the rough ugly stones and what they had now become!  They would make a 'clinking' sound as the smooth stones hit against one another in the palm of your hand.  I remember the rock tumbler box contained rings with settings, earrings, necklaces, along with some glue.  I'm sure my mom received some homemade jewelry that my brother and I crafted together.

Rock polishing was a lesson in patience and perseverance - knowing that at the end of the process, a beautiful reward would be found.  As soon as I had kids who were old enough to appreciate it, I bought them a rock polisher, too!  They enjoyed the process as I did when I was a kid and it made memories I still relish today.  One day my kids might even buy their kids a rock polisher after finding an old grinding grit cannister on their work bench that contains roofing nails!