The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't
biological necessity- its envy. Life is so beautiful
that death has fallen in love with it; a jealous,
possessive love that grabs at what it can. But
life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a
thing or two of no importance, and gloom is
the passing shadow of a cloud.
from: Life of Pi
by: Yann Martell

About that coral dust i collect between my toes....
(it gathers there whether i wear my favorite hiking sandles or whether i hike in shoes)
i guess it could be argued that it really isnt dust.
i suppose that a vast majority of it is indeed just plain ol glorious red sand. Sand that has been eroding away from the magnificent red rocks through all generations of time.
But there is dust too!!!
Today, i have learned from the newest edition of the SOJOURN magazine, that 'dust' can come from the most unlikely places.
Did you know....
"The earth is still gathering more than a hundred tons of space dust every day-to the delight of scientists. Each speck, broken from an asteroid or shed by a comet, might hold a hundred thousand smaller specks. And among those sub-specks are the diamonds and sapphires, the inky-black carbon and rich organic molecules that date to the days of our planet's creation-and even earlier....Even the manner in which the tiniest grains cling together holds clues about how the dust grew as the Sun and planet took shape. Since every atom in our bodies came from inside of stars, explains astrophysicist Don Brownlee, by studying these interstellar dust particles, we can learn about our cosmic roots....."
Happily scientists receive a steady supply of clues. The earth grows fatter every day, snowed under by a continuous microscopic flurry of space specks. Rare as they are, on average, every square yard of the planet should nonetheless receive one speck each day.
Statistically, its a good bet that there's a fresh piece of space dust on the hood of your car daily-and a dozen fresh specks on your roof. Lie on your lawn for a day and you stand a shot at being pelted by a glassy mini-marble or a delicate crumb of comet dust.
"They're everywhere, " Brownlee says. " You eat them all the time. Any carpet would have'em. "
(Exerted from the The Secret Life of Dust by Hannah Holmes)

Space dust, coral dust, sand....its all GOOD!!!
im just so grateful that i can be out 'gathering' whenever i choose!!!

(image from deviantart.com)