Heritage Auction Galleries yesterday alerting me to its upcoming auction on January 18 of a Triceratops horridus skull, and I’ve been lusting after the thing ever since.

The skull, found on a private ranch in Montana, is 7½ feet from beak to frill, with the frill stretching out more than 5 feet wide. Amazingly, this fossil is 93% complete!

And how cool is this? Supposedly—

Though the left brow horn was missing it is believed that it was sheared off in battle as the bone indicates it was broken off while the animal was still alive evidenced by signs of healing.

I want it!

Look here—you guys already let me down last year by not picking up the two tiny gifts I wanted. Now’s your chance to make up for it. According to the catalog, the opening bid is $120,000 and the piece is expected to go for somewhere between $240,000 and $280,000. Surely you love me that much. Don’t you?

Luckily, just in case you disappoint me, Fate decided to hand me its own fossil today.

Because it was a bright, blue day, Irene and I spent several hours early this afternoon clearing away brush in the back acreage. When I was too wiped out to continue, and headed toward the house, a rock near the base of a tree caught my attention. This rock:

The reason it made me curious is because the shape and the texture of its surfaces reminded me of two other rocks we’d found on the property, rocks which turned out to be riddled with fossils. Nothing to compare with a Triceratops skull, but fossils nonetheless. And lightning struck a third time today, as this close-up shows:

I hope you can make out that shell dead center. Here’s another one:

The rock contained numerous shell impressions, plus other small, circular fossils too small to photograph and more difficult to identify. The was the third specimen we’ve discovered since moving here 4½ years ago, and I was thrilled.

Not exactly the fossil I’d been lusting after, but it will do. As is so often the case, the serendipitous is best.

But that doesn’t necessarily let you off the hook!