Take a Pebble (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer)

About once a week, I meet up with Sarah and Colin to walk at a park 20 minutes from our home.  It's mostly shady, tucked into a subdivision, and has many lovely winding trails.  You can tell most of the people using it live in the neighborhood, and it's a well-kept secret, so it's not crowded at all.  Sarah says she sees most of the same couples, families, individuals every time she goes.

A few weeks ago, we noticed that someone had painted and left rocks along the trail, two of which are pictured above (Have Fun and Make Things Happen), which then inspired Sarah to follow through on an art project with Colin.  I provided the large river rocks (snagged from the ground-level area at the bottom of our condo complex stairwell), and they added their creative touches.  Sarah is a huge fan of the Dave Matthews Band, so all three are lyrics from his songs...  :-)

The next time I met up with them, our goal was to leave the DMB rocks along the trails, as a thank you and follow-up. And we did.  Hope they brought smiles to others' faces, as theirs did to ours...  :-)

SONG:  Take a Pebble by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

BOOK:  If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian, Barbara Hirsch Lember (Photographer)

POEM:  Miracles by Walt Whitman

Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge

of the water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed

at night with anyone I love,

Or sit at the table at dinner with the rest,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honeybees busy around the hive

of a summer forenoon,

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining

so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon

in spring;

These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread

with the same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,

The fishes that swim-the rocks-the motion of the waves

-the ships with men in them,

What stranger miracles are there?

QUOTE:  "If you are in the country, you should notice landmarks - that is, objects which help you to find your way or prevent you getting lost, such as distant hills, church towers, and nearer objects, such as peculiar buildings, trees, gates, rocks, etc." ~ Robert Baden-Powell

I Am a Rock (Simon and Garfunkel)

Hey, I never said this Valentine's Day countdown was going to be all wine and roses - one must honor lost love as well, right?

Homestead is only an hour south of me and I've yet to visit this landmark - soon, I've promised myself...

Coral Rock Castle: The House that Heartbreak Built

2/6/2008

Ever been dumped?

Most of us have. And we've got all sorts of stories about how we've tried to win back the object of our affections.

Did you make a mix-tape full of her favorite songs in hopes of warming her heart, a la John Cusack's music geek character in High Fidelity? Or, for a more romantic gesture, you might have serenaded your sweetheart with a boombox outside her bedroom window (John Cusack again, as Say Anything's prototypical "sensitive guy," Lloyd Dobler). Or you might have just left a bunch of pathetic messages on your ex's answering machine, though we have a feeling your success rate's not so high in that case (unless you're John Cusack).

We know of just one man who could beat Cusack's celluloid record for romantic obsession: Ed Leedskalnin, a Latvian immigrant who spent his whole life pining away for Agnes Scuffs, the sixteen year old girl who ditched him just days before their wedding. After Agnes left him, Leedskalnin was absolutely heartbroken, and pledged to win her back. His method of choice? Building a rock garden in honor of his sweetheart, which he called Coral Rock Castle.

The "castle," located in Homestead, Florida, is no mere monument – it's a huge, sprawling structure, with a nine-ton gate, a 28-ton sun dial, a water well, a fountain, a heart-shaped table, and a 5,000-pound throne, along with a range of other curiosities. In total, the grounds include more than 1,100 tons of oolic limestone.

Leedskalnin began building the castle in 1923, and never let up until his death in 1951. He worked only at night, and gave ten-cent tours of the unfinished palace throughout his lifetime. Sadly, Leedskalnin's lost love, Agnes Scuffs, never came to see the magnificent stone garden that he had built in her honor. Her throne would remain empty forever.

We know it already sounds pretty strange, but here's the weirdest part: Leedskanin, who was only five feet tall and 100 pounds, and had only a fourth grade education, reputedly assembled the entire massive structure himself, with no help – even though some of the individual stones weigh as much as 30 tons, which is heavier than the blocks in the Egyptian pyramids.

Over the years, plenty of people have come up with their own theories about how the lovesick Leedskalnin constructed the amazing monument. Some believe that he was aided by extraterrestrials, or that Leedskalnin himself had supernatural powers. Even the great Albert Einstein had been unable to deduce Leedskalnin's methods, though some engineers believe that Leedskalnin used a block-and-tackle system, which is a common engineering technique. (Though not so common for a fourth-grade dropout.)

Whether or not he was some sort of superhero, or had a race of alien amigos to help him build his palace, it's certain to say that Ed Leedskalnin was one of a kind. We just don't know how Agnes let him slip away.

SONG: I Am a Rock by Simon and Garfunkel

BOOK: Love Rocks Postcard Book by Gardner Juliane

POEM: Burlap Sack by Jane Hirshfield

A person is full of sorrow

The way a burlap sack is full of stones or sand.

We say, "Hand me the sack,"

But we get the weight.

Heavier if left out in the rain.

To think that the stones or sand are the self is an error.

To think that grief is the self is an error.

Self carries grief as a pack mule carries the side bags,

Being careful between the trees to leave extra room.

The self is not the load of ropes and nails and axes.

The self is not the miner nor builder nor driver.

What would it be to take the bride

And leave behind the heavy dowry?

To let the thin-ribbed mule browse in tall grasses,

Its long ears waggling like the tails of two happy dogs?

QUOTE: "Man is harder than rock and more fragile than an egg." ~ Yugoslav Proverb

Stoned Soul Picnic (Laura Nyro)

SONG: Stoned Soul Picnic by Laura Nyro

BOOK: Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor

POEM: Instructions by Sheri Hostetler

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
throw away some more.
Repeat. Repeat.
Keep this and only this:
what your heart beats loudly for
what feels heavy and full in your gut.
There will only be one or two
things you will keep,
and they will fit lightly
in your pocket.

QUOTE: "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." ~ Thomas Jefferson