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.
9 Comments
Leave a commentWe saw many cairns on our trip to Utah last Fall. They were used to keep us on the correct path on trails. Maybe you can attach symbolism to your cairn? I’m not so good doing that!
You can also look at rocks as a foundation of who we are. I dont recall leaving a cairn anywhere. I have seen them in traveling.
I’ve never made one but have seen them all over in NC when we go hiking especially. I love them and never knew their meaning.
I love your cairn. In Canada we have the inukshuk which is a structure made of stones piled on top of each other. Apparantly they were once used for navigation in the frozen north where, in the snow, everything could look the same. They were also used to mark sacred places. An inukshuk could also work like a signpost to show a good hunting or fishing spot. They can also bring good luck which I think yours will.
I have seen many on walks along beaches, from the Atlantic ocean to Lake Superior. I know some people don’t like them, but I sort of enjoy finding them. I have a tiny one piled up in my bathroom, small smooth little Lake Michigan stones. Reminds me of the lake I love when I’m far away from it.
You might need to hire a team of highschoolers to move your rocks so that your lawn guy can mow! I team of 4 or so kids could do the work in short order and I doubt would be that expensive! Especially if you provide homemade cookies.
My question: Why leave the rock road if the work is done?
I have lots of experience picking rocks from farm fields and tossing them into the tractor loader or into a wagon. But those days are behind me. It sounds like you made the best of a difficult situation by building that cairn.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Moving all those rocks was a great challenge for sure. The cairn was a great ideal.
I love the way you’ve made lemonade out of lemons, Beth Ann (or rather, a cairn out of a pile of rocks!) This year has been challenging for many of us (and here, we thought it would bring magic after the misery that was 2020!!) Hang in there, my friend!
From one rock picker to another, (we have to gather limestone back in our driveway every spring — the joys of country living without a paved drive!) your cairn makes an interesting addition to your dock box. But I really don’t like to see them out in nature, which is where I have seen SO many, because I do think it disturbs little critters’ habitats and kind of ruins a naturally scenic view.