Online since 2000
ALL NEW WEBSITE
Updated 4/15/2026.
All content is copyright ©2026
by Lorena Babcock Moore.
Do not use without permission.
Mountain Lion Track
Carved in “Silver Satin” Granite
THE BOOK OF THE HIDDEN LAND: Serpents, Ladders, Gates, and Eyes:
Photos of geological, historic, and natural treasures in our private desert nature sanctuary. Mysterious geological images form tiled patterns, story cairns, and matched pairs. About 120 photos so far.
Green Serpent Stones “Magic Square”
Snakelike dark basaltic veins in white granite, green epidote spots in volcanic breccia and calcsilicate rocks, and a green rat snake!
INTERACTIVE MATCHED PAIRS: Use the slider to see each picture. Some pairs are opposites, some are complementary, and some are similar in shape, color, or origin.
A white aplite vein in gray granodiorite looks like pale sand below high dark stone.
Both photos have the same minerals (white feldspars, gray quartz, black hornblende needles, black biotite flakes) but in different proportions. Both are about 3 inches long.
Branch shadows and a dark mirror pool with branch reflections.
These are human artifacts. Their age, purpose, and makers are unknown. They have been attributed to native Americans who used them to grind corn, acorns, and mesquite pods for food. They have entered geologic time as evolving secrets of the living landscape. After a rain, animals drink from them.
STORYCAIRN SLIDE SHOW: Sacred Geometry – Triangles in Stone: Intersecting joints in fine-grained gray granite and coarser grained white granite. Basaltic rock intrudes white granite; this image of the contact resembles the Mountain that is visible from the canyon. These geometric patterns record rock stress in a rising mountain range.
“SILVER SATIN” GRANITE
This fine-grained warm gray rock was used for early 20th century gravestones in southern Arizona, sold as the “Silver Satin” granite.
We bought the abandoned quarry in 2021.
Yin/Yang Quarry Boulders
A split rock shows the fresh gray surface and tan weathered surface with darker desert varnish. Can you find the small circular dome and its matching depression that show that these two rocks were once one?
“Half Moon Hollow” The bracelet is displayed on a quarry chip. “Silver Satin” bead, forged iron, black steel wire, sterling silver, antique steel cable from the quarry site, and antique African iron beads.
HANDCARVED STONE BEADS: “Silver Satin” and aplite pendants with other local pebbles and black steel wire fringe.
“Desert Hornpods” graphite and carbon pencil, 2024.
“Kitten Meteor Shower” colored pencil.
MY MUSIC: Improvisations on fretless banjo and homemade instruments.
MINERALARTS: 