Saturday, September 12, 2009

rocks & stones & artifacts

Rocks & stones and artifacts...
I once heard that rock carries the history of the place of it's origin. That if you want to retain a taste of the spirit of a place it can be contained in a grain of stone as small as sand.
I've always loved rocks. To the extent that when visiting a new place I sometimes need to be reminded to look up! To the extent that when coming home from a new place or even from a walk around the corner, I frequently carry home added pounds inside my bags and pockets...
This trip provided me with a windfall of very small heart shaped stones (my very favorite. the triple win. the grand prize...) from a pebble beach in Cecina. Also the smooth black variety with perfect white lines circling them (another favorite. a Native American good luck signal) from Sardegna. A large red rock brought up from the sea by a friend who took us out on his boat one gorgeous sunny afternoon and although not exactly rock, a small shard of a ceramic drain pipe from Pompeii. Baked earth from a time and place that sings to me as if we were connected somehow...
I mostly don't remember exactly where all my rocks were found. I have quarts crystals from Russia and Culebra, smooth grey stones from Scotland, obsidian blobs and arrowheads from all around New mexico, rocks from the east coast and the west coast and from every trip I've ever taken...
And then there are the seashells and the parts of larger things. The triangular relic from when the wall was taken down in Germany that my father gave me, very small but with evidence of graffiti on it. The pottery shards I found in the back yard when I was little, playing in the mountains...
I write this because last night I had a dream that I was having a necklace made with all the favorite pieces of the collection. I was trying to design something realistic in terms of weight and size etc. I don't remember how it turned out but I remember vividly that I was covering myself with all the rocks to see how the necklace would look and feel and that it seemed very magical.
Dreams...

2 comments:

  1. emmett and I enlarged this photo and stared and stared.
    xxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
    us

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  2. I have missed reading your blog; on the other hand I was really happy for you. Italy is a magic place.
    But your home seems marvellous to live in.
    I wish I had met you, maybe next time...

    ReplyDelete