>> I HAVE AN IDEA I'D LIKE TO PITCH IT ND IT STARTS WITH THIS BUCKET.

YOU SEE, THIS BUCKET IS A ROCK COLLECTION.

I JUST DIDN'T COLLECT IT MYSELF.

I DISCOVERED IT AT A GARAGE SALE WHERE IT WASN'T EVEN TECHNICALLY FOR SALE, THEY JUST SAID I COULD HAVE IT.

A COUPLE YEARS LATER I DECIDED THAT BRINGING THE ROCKS HOME WITH ME WAS A DUMB IDEA AND I EMPTIED THE ENTIRE COLLECTION ON MY PARENTS' GRAVEL DRIVEWAY.

HERE'S ANOTHER ROCK COLLECTION.

THIS ONE IS MINE, I STARTED IT WHEN I WAS A CHILD.

IT REPRESENTS ALL 50 UNITED STATES AND AT LEAST 12 FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

I CONSIDER IT A RESPECTABLE COLLECTION BUT I'M GUESSING IT TOO WILL SOMEDAY END UP IN MY PARENTS' DRIVEWAY.

NOW, HERE'S THE KEY DETAIL.

ROCK COLLECTIONS ARE NOT UNCOMMON.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE YOURSELF, I'M 100% CERTAIN YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES.

AND N THEIR OWN WAY ROCK COLLECTIONS ARE AMAZING.

THEY REPRESENT A MULTI-GENERATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, GLOBE-SPANNING SELECTION EXPERIMENT THAT CAPTURES THE UNIQUE WAY THE HUMAN BRAIN PERCEIVES BEAUTY IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

IN MY OPINION ANY EFFORT OF THIS MAGNITUDE DESERVES A BETTER FINAL RESTING PLACE THAN SOMEBODY'S GRAVEL DRIVEWAY.

SO HERE'S MY PITCH.

LET'S DESIGNATE A SINGLE LOCATION, A CENTRAL REPOSITORY FOR ALL THE ROCK COLLECTIONS OF THE WORLD.

I'D HUMBLY OFFER ONE OF THE MANY LAKEFRONTS RIGHT HERE IN MINNESOTA.

WHENEVER WE'RE DONE WITH A ROCK COLLECTION, LET'S DEPOSIT IT HERE.

BUCKET BY BUCKET, YEAR BY YEAR WE LITERALLY BE ASSEMBLING ONE OF THE PLANET'S MOST INSPIRING SCENIC WONDERS.

FUTURE GENERATIONS COULD WANDER THE BEACH COLLECTING NOT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STONES BUT THE LEAST BEAUTIFUL, TAKING THEM HOME AS SOUVENIRS AND IN THE SAME WAY BOILING TREE SAP MAKES FOR SWEETER MAPLE SYRUP THE OVERALL VISUAL VALUE BEACH WOULD ONLY BE INCREASED.

I'M PRETTY ENAMORED WITH THIS IDEA.

IT WOULD BE A NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, EXERCISE OPPORTUNITY TOURIST ATTRACTION ALL ROLLED INTO ONE.

IT WOULDN'T EVEN TAKE ADDITIONAL WORK.

IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE ALREADY DOING.

THAT'S MY PITCH.

LET'S PICK A LOCATION PREFERABLY RIGHT HERE IN MINNESOTA AND HELP THE ROCK