It's odd, don't you think, to refer to people you don't know ... have never met ... as friends ... because somehow you connected through social media ... and presto change-o ... you become friends ... at least by today's standards.
This one may be a little different, though. It's too soon to tell.
He takes pictures of stones. Beautiful photographs of walls ... and cliffs ... and little piles of rocks. Natural formations that stand the test of time. Longlasting ... well worn ... bearing the marks of weather ... harsh sun ... and storms.
If he understands ... stones ... then maybe ... he understands
other important things as well.
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| .... proper credit ... for the photograph ... to Thomas Watt ... |
"The logic of painting the stones escapes me ..."
That was the caption he posted when he shared the photo. The image immediately resonated with me ... and his musing was thought provoking
as well ...
You see, they looked like rocks to me ... not stones.
Stones ... well, stones are something entirely different. Either way ... I get it ... the paint on the rocks ...
The blue paint ... is really simple. There was no logic. It was just random ... an accident ... the residual outcome of a decision to change ... something ... by someone ... somewhere ...
No real thought was given to the spatter ... I mean, seriously, they carried it outside to spray the bright, cheerful blue on whatever it was ... that way they really didn't have to be too careful ... as they put a fresh face on something that had become worn & tired ... there was nothing there that could be damaged by the cover-up ... after all ...
It was just a bunch of rocks. Or maybe, as he said ... they were stones.
Right away, I had to go look it up. The difference between rocks ... and stones.
According to webster.com, a stone is "a concretion of mineral matter: rock". That's the "A" part of the definition ... the "B" part says ... "a piece of rock for a specified function".
Stones ... are special like that ... they have purpose.
Concretion was an interesting word so ... naturally... I looked it up ... too.
Concretion = something concreted.
No surprise there. It goes on to say that a concretion is "a hard usually inorganic mass like a bezoar found in a living thing" ... and then onto the "B" definition ... "a mass of mineral matter found generally in rock".
Stones ... are hard, inorganic masses ... with specific purposes ... found inside ... rocks.
Like a bezoar. Of course. Everyone knows about bezoars.
A bezoar is "any form of calculi found in the gastrointestinal organs" ... and here's the best part ... a bezoar ... is "believed by some ... to possess magical properties" ...
So stones ... are magic rocks. Now we're getting somewhere.
And rocks are ...
The noun definitions ... in the order they are offered ... have to do with motion ... then music ... then a reference to a distaff. A distaff refers to wool & flax ... it goes on to say it means ... a woman's work.
Maybe that's why I saw rocks ... in what he called stones.
I had to click on the fourth noun entry before I got to a definition that had any geological reference. A rock is ... "a large mass of stone forming a cliff, a promontory or a peak". And then the "B" definition ... "a concreted mass of stony material".
Makes you wonder ... which came first ... the stone? Or the rock?
My friend ... the one who didn't get the shallowness of the paint ... but had the eye for the well-worn beauty beneath ... in the rocks ... the stones ... the journey. He said it was ok for me to share his photograph here ... as long as I gave him ... proper credit.
I assured him ... that ... I always give ... proper credit ... for work done well.
You see, it's not everyone that goes a little deeper ... below the surface ... beneath the paint ... too see the magic. Whether it's a rock ... or a stone ... or a living thing ... the magic ... it's always ... waiting to be found ... within.
Recently another friend of mine had a birthday. It was a significant one. This is a friend that's been wandering in out of my life for over 20 years ...
a real-live, hug-ya-when-I-see-ya friend.
So for his birthday, I gave him a jar full of rocks. No wait ... I think maybe they were stones ... because they were special. In the jar were large rough ones ... some shiny, polished ones ... and some that were more like pebbles. Pebbles are simply small, well-worn ones.
There was a message that went along with the gift. About counting your blessings ... your Saturdays ... the good things in life.
It was a bit of risk ... to give him something ... like that ... I guess. He's a guy, after all. Still. He gets it. And now every week, he spends a few minutes pondering ... his life ... his choices ... what's important ... what's stood the test of time ... what lies ahead ... as he takes a stone out of the jar. He has decided to put each remembered rock into another jar ... establishing a balance of some sort.
Last week he told me that some of his rocks were missing ... out of the emptier jar ... the one that he's moving them into ... one week at a time. Seems his grandson has been helping him out ... returning the stones ...
to the original container.
Buying him a little more time. A few more Saturdays. That's what he said. It made me smile. And offers me so much hope ... to think that his grandson ... gets it ... at such a young age.
"You are hanging on to too many things, MaryJane."
As soon as He said it ... I knew it was true ... and that it was time. So the last week I have begun the process of clearing out clutter ... sorting through stuff ... and I came across that pesky little rock ... the one that was offered up as a replacement ... by a friend ... who accidently threw away the REAL magic rock ... that I found out there in her yard.
She really didn't get it ... not the magic rock thing ... not the friend thing ... either. Still somehow she got the magic ... and I got the rock ...
the phony, replacement one.
.... it sort of makes you wonder ... is the magic really real ... for those who don't believe? Or will it turn out to be yet another be-careful-what-you-wish-for story? Things are never really as they seem.
The stone pondering ... it's been deep ... and very personal. Lots of things have been taken out ... considered ... examined ...
"It's time to go, MJ."
Another prompting ... urge ... that's getting stronger & stronger. Not sure what that means ... or where it is ... that it's time for me to go. All I can do is prepare ... for the next part of the journey ... as best I can.
So a few of the rocks I have unearthed ... re-discovered ... are going to be hanging around a bit longer. Some with a bright, new look ... a fresh coat of paint. Like the ones in the photograph. Others plain & simply ... themselves.
They make great paperweights ... doorstops ... and most likely will be essential to any really satisfying water-feature. Others ... well, in some cases ... they are no longer meaningful ... or useful. Their time has past.
So I am letting those go ... leaving them behind. Some will remain part of those sturdy walls ... the ones that I have followed all the way to where they end ... they just stop ... unexpectedly. The walls that I no longer need ... to protect me from things over there on the other side ... things that might sneak up on me ... catching me offguard ... unprepared ... ill-equpped to protect myself ... the walls that have been separating me from the life I want to be living ...
My friend ... the one with the keen eye ... he has some photographs of a wall ... exactly like that ... he's good ... very good.
I am winning the battles within ...
so there's no need to fear the enemies ... without.
Others are simply being scattered along the path ... to what's coming next ... waiting for whoever stumbles upon them next ...& picks them up ...
And a few ... deserve something more .. than casual dismissal.
Those are my skipping stones ... flying through the air ... as I fling them ... then dancing across the water ... wonder how many lives will be touched by the ripples ...
... magic rocks ... that's what they are ... stones.
... and bein' lost is worth the comin' home ...
La la la la la la la la la ... on ... stones ...
(c) August 2011
I like your blog. It seems you chew on things before trying to digest them. Nice approach. There are always some things that seemed fundamental to me and my photography: light, atmosphere, stone, water. Trying to work with those can be most difficult because they are almost completely outside our control. Perhaps that's why I keep playing with them, because it's so difficult to manipulate the materials.
ReplyDelete~ Thomas Watt via Facebook
MJ ..I have magic stones in both of my pockets. I will tell you more later.
ReplyDelete~ Jennifer via email