Turquoise in shades of blue and green

I feel the need to burden this blog with more thoughts about The Anthropology of Turquoise. I have to draft an outline or free write for 2-3 pages about a chapter in the book, so I am going to post the question here, and then write my response. For some reason mediums of writing influences my desire to write, and I have found that when doing this type of assignment, the blog is more inviting than a word document.

Here is the question:
In "A Wilderness of Monkeys," Meloy gives us the geological and cultural history of turquoise, and writes on pg. 107 that "Turquoise is a sympathetic gem." In a short (2-3 pages) outline or free write of a possible essay, discuss why, of all possible gems and/or stones she could choose, does Meloy focus on turquoise (besides the fact she likes how it looks)? What symbolic meaning does turquoise carry for her?

“Is turquoise green? Is it blue?”
“In the Deeds and Sufferings of Light,” Meloy raises questions about the nature of green and blue. Blue is a strong color. It came into evolving languages late, but had a dominating effect. It preceded black, white, red, yellow, and green, and for unknown reasons replaced green. Blue is now used to describe objects formally perceived as green. Green was pushed into ambiguity. We often fumble for words when trying to describe sea green and ocean blue and other shades that fall in the "is-it-green-is-it-blue" category. Turquoise is a stone that encompasses this ambiguous blue and green. In some areas of the world, it is a clean cerulean color, others a deep sea-green, and others stark sky fissured with black. Meloy focuses on turquoise because it is an answer to her question. Objects can be both green and blue. There is not always a need for distinction.

“to scare myself witless by swinging on the thick hemp rope outside the safety of daylight and visible depths”
From Meloy's essay, I have gathered that she doesn’t consider the stone’s wealth in terms of money. She values it with memories. In her earlier essay, “The Deeds and Suffering of Life”, she writes that every color has a story. Turquoise has a part in many of her stories. From the Mariachi band in El Paso, to the cheap turquoise ring a family of hippies stole from her mantle, to the Iranian turquoise ring set in silver her brother gave has a gift. Each event is precious. Each event is associated with turquoise. Turquoise is the storyteller. My favorite of her stories involved the Iranian turquoise ring. I liked that it was a gift, and I liked the Persian proverb she pulled that stated the power of turquoise could only be experienced as a gift. To Meloy, this ring also represented her post-college need for freedom. Freedom is not the right word here. I can't find the passage, but at one point she mentions that she needed reassurance she would not fall into a linear boring adult life. So, post-college, Meloy and a group of friends tied a rope to a tree and catapulted themselves into the river below. They jumped from 55 feet waterfalls. Meloy hiked alone to the spot one night and dived into the dark river. She comes back to this ring at the end of her essay, saying that one day she will give it to her niece. She says nothing of the value of the ring she hopes to pass, but instead the memory behind. The memory of “the night that the ring flew with me, on a hemp rope high over an opaque river, in the cusp of youth with no hazard of thought, only the sheer suppleness of sensation.”