Hey, I resemble that comment!

I'm read a book about the founder of the science of geology, William Smith, entitled

The Map That Changed The World by Simon Winchester,
and in it I found this quote:

"What had hitherto been a signifier of drawing-room decorum seemed overnight to become the pastime of the dull, and then steadily to evolve into that which amateur paleontology is now: no more than the mark of the nerd."
Why I oughta...!
So what if I like to sit in a ditch on Sundays.  I still made it to the sports bar in time to watch my New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills and no one was the wiser.
But what about that ditch?

I like hanging out in this ditch because it exposes a layer of fossil coral.  I used to be nervous down here alone but I believe there are far less miserable places for serial killers to hang out.

You can clearly see the strata here:

There is an upper layer of solid grainy, dark soil and then a layer of tightly compressed coral sitting on top of a base layer of hard gray clay.  Initially, I tried to just pull out pieces of coral.  Nope!

Then I came back with a small shovel, but the layers were tight enough that the end of the shovel folded back on itself.  Now I bring a small hammer and narrow chisel and sit on the mud in meditative silence while I work out a few pieces to take home and slab for jewelry.

Knee-high boots and lots of insect repellant are indispensable but

what a beautiful reward for the trouble!

Here's another piece of fossil art

put together by one of the members of the Fossil Club of Lee County:

Very creative and she's definitely not a nerd!  :-)