Earth collector

COLLECTORS. Some people collect stamps, others hoard paper money from other lands, still others collect shoes. Rolly (family name withheld on request) collected earth or soil from the countries he had visited. But this collection is gone, scattered by Yolanda the storm.

WELL-PACKED. Rolly's earth collection was featured in a Japanese magazine. The earth samples were well-packed and well-arranged in glass covered shelf. The shelf was marked "The Earths I walked On." Rolly, 71, collected the earth samples from 30-plus countries he had been to as a sailor. "It took me years to collect them, it took Yolanda just a few minutes to scatter them," Rolly said.