Geology is a fairly recent topic of interest for me. One of the big impediments was finding books that talked about it at my level, and didn't immediately make my eyes glaze over with chemistry and physics. One of my favorites is the Geology Underfoot series, where they the authors talk about specific landscapes of specific places, and why they are the way they are. I even finally understand what a syncline is!
But aside from the lack of good books, I think it had something to do with my living mostly in the east and midwest. When I finally got beyond my hike further faster phase and wanted to spend more time learning about the environment I was hiking in, it was the trees and wildflowers I first learned (I'm definitely one of these people that finds being able to name things makes me feel more at home there). It was only when I started doing more hiking out west that my curiosity about the geology of the area got aroused. And clearly it's because the geology is so compelling there- LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT HOW AMAZING AND UNPREDICTABLE I AM! Or at least that's how it seems to me. And it made me wonder if all geologists were born or lived out west.
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Look out, it's only one small step from geological interest to fossilmania!
Interesting comment about the drive to name. I have that naming need as well. I think perhaps naming makes us feel more at home in the environment we're passing through because it slows us down, makes us really look, ponder, muse and be more fully there rather than when just giving it a passersby's simple glance.
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