I gotta rock...

Cross posted from: http://puttputtproductions.com/blogetary/2011/04/26/i-gotta-rock/

When I was a kid we lived down the street from the National Guard Armory. And every year they would have a rock and gem show and one of our family outings was to trek down to the armory and ooh and ah over all the pretty shined up rocks and then spend our allowance on the grab bag of rocks and see what we had when we got home. We loved that. One year I even got a rock polisher for my birthday or Christmas, but we only used it once or twice I think. The rocks ended up being so small when they came out.

The love of rocks runs strong in my family. We had pet rocks in the 70s. And every time we went on vacation or to the beach we’d come home with rocks in our pockets. I even have an aunt who, after years as a microbiologist/micologist, decided it was time to study geology. The study of – yup – rocks.

And I have many friends out there (you know who you are) who confess to that same love of the rock.

They come in so many colors and shapes and sizes. From pink, pebbly sand in Cabo to the granite in the Cascades. There’s just such a variety. Crystals and marbles and sandstone that’s easy to carve. You name it, it’s out there.

One of my favorite rocks, though, is the geode. Not pretty on the outside, when you look inside, it’s an abundance of crystalline divineness that sparkles and shines in the light of day. I used to say, when I was younger, that I wanted to make sure I found people like that as friends, to hang with and influence me. People who sparkled within, who had that creative, imaginative light, different in each person, that shone strong when opened to the world, no matter what they looked like on the outside.

I soon realized that there also people out there who were a lot like granite. They had quartz in them, they were pretty in the right light, but they were not surprising. They were the same through and through. I used to get frustrated when I realized someone was more like granite than a geode, but now I appreciate them more. They’re dependable. They’re always there. You can count on granite. That vein of quartz is going to be running throughout it’s structure. It might be hard to fall against, but it will also support you in times of trouble. Granite is good.

Lately, though, I’ve been realizing there is a third category – shale. Shale is made up of a number of things – crystal and rock, but mostly silt – hardened silt – in other words, mud. So, it will fool you, sitting there sparkling in the sun like granite or a geode or some other rock. And you think you’ve come upon something you know, that’s dependable, until you put all your weight on it and it … crumbles, slides, slips, skips, and before you know it you’ve twisted an ankle, broken your arm and your head and back and other places have mysterious bruises from your tumble down the shale. It takes a while for me, repeatedly making the same mistake sometimes, to realize that the rock I’m looking at is not good dependable granite, but slippery shale. And by the time I figure it out, I’ve fallen down the hill.

So, I’ve decided one of my birthday goals for the coming year is to recognize shale when I see it and walk around it. Avoid it, leave it behind. Move on to a better spot along the river or on the side of the mountain where the rock is more sturdy, more dependable, and certainly prettier.