It was the day after Halloween and all through the city, people of all ages were abuzz with a sugar high.

Ah yes, if you havenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t realized it yet, too much sugar can give some people a real buzzy wuzzy. In fact, for some people, sugar can be quite addictive. They love it, they crave it, they want more and more of it. They become sugar junkies.

So, just what is sugar? I would put it in the classification of minerals, because in its solid form it has a regular crystalline structure and composition, and that is the definition of a mineral. However, some folks in academia claim it isnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t a mineral because it has carbon in it. It has a biological origin, so it's organic and a carbohydrate. Obviously, I donSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t agree with that choice because minerals can be formed in some pretty complicated or bizarre ways. I consider it a mineral, like salt and all the other minerals we consume.

Is sugar a drug, a food or a commodity? ThatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s another interesting question. I consider it a mineral commodity that we use in food, and it also acts like a drug. That is a lot to wrap your mind around, but watching a sugar addictSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s reaction to getting a big fix, like a dozen doughnuts, is very convincing.

Now, the formula for sugar is C12H22O11. C stands for carbon and a molecule of sugar has 12 atoms of carbon. That is a lot of carbon, so if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, cut down on your use of sugar. H is for hydrogen, and it has 22 atoms while O is for oxygen and it has 11 of those atoms. So, a molecule of sugar has 45 atoms in it. That is impressive, but carbon is like that. It seems to like being a part of big, complicated molecules.

Think about all the sugar people consume in a day, particularly days around Halloween. Now think about all the carbon in that sugar. Surely if we wanted to cut down on carbon, people would rally against sugar and if the government were serious about cutting down on carbon they would put a carbon tax on it. Call it the sweet tax.

Minerals have strange and mysterious properties, some of which we have discovered and many others yet to be found. For a moment, letSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s consider quartz, which is silicon dioxide or SiO2. It is a common mineral and we certainly have a lot of it around. It forms whitish veins in the volcanic rocks, and it is one of the main minerals in granite. So, we see it or walk over it every day.

Now, if you take quartz or sand made from quartz and melt it down, you can turn it into glass. So really, glass is just a type of quartz, and we could call window glass a human-altered form of quartz. Natural occurring quartz crystals are used in expensive watches, oscillators and crystal radios. Here is a use not many know of: quartz powder is used as an anti-caking agent in industrial and food preparation, such as powdered foods and spices. So, most humans consume an amount of inert quartz every year. Quartz sand, also known as frac sand, is used in the oil industry, especially for fracking. It is used in jewelry, and we make all sorts of things out of it, and some claim quartz crystals have natural calming and healing properties.

So, quartz is a mineral, an industrial product, used in food preparation, has medicinal uses and is one of the building block minerals of planet Earth. If you have ever heard of sea glass or have some, then you have collected human altered quartz that was turned into glass and dumped into the ocean in staggering amounts. It is washing ashore on beaches around the world and some humans are out finding and selling it. 'Tis a bit strange, but thatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s nature and humans for you.

So, while you are enjoying your sugar buzz, look out your quartz window and watch snow, another mineral, as it descends from the sky. Happy sugar buzz!