When you read Rocky Road you thought ice cream, right? Yum. It is the perfect ice cream weather and with the temperatures in the high 70’s all week it is the perfect dessert.

I, however, was thinking of something different when I typed that title and the picture at the top of the blog post kind of shows another option. I prefer the ice cream option but today, unfortunately, I have the rock option.

The community dredging is a thing of the past but left in its wake is a road of sorts that they created for the dump trucks and excavator to travel on on the berm of the lake. While I am very grateful for the dredging and the attempted restoration of our yard it leaves somewhat to be desired. We have rocks.

Lots of rocks.

Big rocks.

Little rocks.

Rocks of all shapes and sizes.

I decided to attempt to remove some of them yesterday and gave it a good try for a couple of hours. I know there is no way our lawn guy can mow there safely without throwing rocks or ruining his mower blade . But I am afraid it might be more of a job than I can handle.

I know we all hit rocky roads now and then. Patches of less than perfectly smooth and even sailing. It is what gives us character, right? It is what gives us perseverance. There is always that belief that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. All those cliches came to mind as I was picking rocks out of the yard.

So I decided to quit moaning about it and make a little cairn on our dock box. A cairn is a man-made pile of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn. Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present. In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times.

Now when I look out the window toward the lake I see his little cairn standing as a landmark to my couple hours of work. Not sure it really makes a statement but it is making me feel better about my rock pile.

Have you ever made a cairn someplace to really leave as a landmark? Sometimes it is frowned upon because it disrupts nature but I think on my dock box it is okay.

Tell me all about it in the comments and Comment for a Cause for Ohio Guidestone.