Years ago, I went up to Hiddenite to dig for emeralds. I came up empty. But apparently I was just too far ahead of the internet's hottest hole-digging trend to appreciate what I'd done.
Thanks, this article had me LOL which feels especially good these days. We are a family of rock nerds, and visited Hiddenite Mine several times when are kids were young. So I just upgraded to become a paid subscriber. I have been reading for free for a while but this article pushed me to pay up. I justified the expense having recently cancelled my Washington Post subscription.
Thank you! I cannot possibly offer as much value as the WaPo, but I will continue to give much more attention to the hole-digging beat than they ever will.
I learned from reading the Little House on the Prairie series of books that pioneers had to hand dig wells on the prairie. One book tells of the neighbor in the hole and he asphyxiated himself due to bad air collecting at the bottom of the quite deep hole. The family discovered him and after winching him out he recovered, as I recall. Nasty stuff.
Thanks, this article had me LOL which feels especially good these days. We are a family of rock nerds, and visited Hiddenite Mine several times when are kids were young. So I just upgraded to become a paid subscriber. I have been reading for free for a while but this article pushed me to pay up. I justified the expense having recently cancelled my Washington Post subscription.
Thank you! I cannot possibly offer as much value as the WaPo, but I will continue to give much more attention to the hole-digging beat than they ever will.
"One man’s current hole is another man’s former hole, it seems."
Hey now, this is a family site.
Tell me Confucius didn't say that, you can't.
The epic NC RH x Jacob Geller linkup we've been waiting for
Which started with neither one of us knowing who the other person is.
You can’t talk about finding stuff in the NC ground without mentioning the largest tungsten mine in the US…
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/20/tungsten-queen-g-139
This was a joy to read. And I learned something about that random exit on I-40 that I’ve driven past hundreds of times.
04/26/25: "Hole-lee cow!"
“Rebar of the earth” is spot on
Such a good line.
I learned from reading the Little House on the Prairie series of books that pioneers had to hand dig wells on the prairie. One book tells of the neighbor in the hole and he asphyxiated himself due to bad air collecting at the bottom of the quite deep hole. The family discovered him and after winching him out he recovered, as I recall. Nasty stuff.
Mentioned here:
https://mommamindyprairieprimer.wordpress.com/tag/digging-a-well/
Holes are fun and also deadly.
Isn’t Hiddenite where the Yellow Deli is? With the cult? Seems like that is a pretty important tidbit to share?
It is! People have pitched me on the Yellow Deli several times over the years and I have never actually made it up there.
Please make this happen soon. Much easier than digging a hole…but just as odd.
My husband is an archaeologist. He literally digs holes for a living (and that’s what he tells people at parties).
Does he dig them for fun though? Or is that like being someone who got sick of pizza for a time after working at a pizza shop (me).
Not unless you count yard work. So, no, he’s not super interested in picking up a shovel if he’s not getting paid.