All that sparkles

This small corner of frosty Coral Bells in my back garden is the only spot where an early morning sunbeam landed after squeezing itself through the small air space between the spruce across the alley and the back corner of the garage.

It, along with some exposés I've watched recently, made me think of how ridiculous the precious gem industry is and how warped the human sense of value can be. The diamond industry for one; a tightly controlled cartel that spans the globe with shady dealings, purposely withholding inventory to keep prices inflated, the cleverly manipulated campaign that creates the sense of rarity and preciousness. All that is beans compared to the even darker side of the industry; the smuggling, the perception of worthlessness of human life it fosters, the funding of terrorism.

It's even more irritating because diamonds do absolutely nothing for me. They are far more useful in the blades and cutting devices of heavy industry where their supreme hardness is essential.

I see/feel no difference in value between a diamond and one of the tiny, perfectly smooth pebbles, tumbled and shaped by the hands of time, found at the water's edge in lakes and streams.

"Phew...yay," says Mr. F.