When we were first exploring our newly purchased retirement land, Becky was thrilled when we came upon this rock. The last glacier had broken off a piece of the bedrock ridge and pushed it here. Its level placement and size made for a perfect bench. The man that built the nearby house wanted this rock to anchor the stone wall in front of his home. Fearing that he would break it with his tractor and chains, I denied his request. Knowing that Becky would really miss this rock also factored in my decision to retain possession of this rock.
Natural forces are at work dissolving this rock into soil. Various lichens and moss are drawing their nourishment from the surface of the rock. The pace of this activity is incredibly slow. Great beauty can be seen here if one takes the time to stop and look. A Disney-like face appears near the upper right edge of the picture. The splat of white and light green growth is edged in pinkish purple. Both of those growths appear in several other different places on the surface of the rock.
A recent locally severe weather event toppled a neighbor's hickory tree across the lane. That falling tree snapped off a section of another hickory on our side. Ownership of the fallen wood never came into question. Our neighbor heats with wood and we all felt that he should put the fallen trees to good use. When the first tree fell it snapped off the top of one section of the tree near the rock. The remaining section of trunk was branch-less, long and looked threatening. Our neighbor placed a ladder against the tree and skillfully dropped the snag into the lane. More fuel for him and a hazard safely removed for everyone.
A generous supply of campfire wood remains. This feels like a perfect afternoon to do some light work in the woods. A campfire built with hickory wood should produce some sweet smelling smoke. The area around the special rock will also be cleaned up. It came through all of this unmarked and soon no trace of the damaged trees will detract from the beauty of its natural placement.
2 comments:
I, too, find it fascinating to study the intricacies of mosses, lichens, and other life on rocks. Stones and rocks (as you know, of course!) are such valuable elements in the garden. It's easy to take them for granted, but they create so much character. I can see why this one is special for Becky. :)
Oh what a beautiful rock with all that moss and lichen! No wonder you wanted to keep it!
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