When I saw Old Rock Day on the calendar, I was reminded of the old Charlie Brown cartoon about Halloween where Chuck (as Peppermint Patti called him) kept getting rocks. Then I thought to myself, what if it was Old Rock Day like today? If it were Old Rock Rock Day wouldn’t Charles (as Marcie called him) be getting wonderful prizes? Maybe he was getting beautiful geodes, that looked like a random collection of rocks until they were broken open.
Who can say, right?
If I told you Monster always felt a bit like Charlie Brown, perpetually unable to fit in, forever failing, would you be surprised? Oh, Monster loved Snoopy, was a bit brainy like Linus, he played piano like Schroeder, had trouble keeping clean like Pig-Pen, but he WAS Charlie Brown. It’s a shame he never had a Charlie Brown shirt, he would have worn it well! He had smart dogs, but none of his dogs were a World War I flying Ace, ya know?
Monster admired Charlie Brown which might seem strange at first. Chuck’s friends and frenemies always came together for him in the end though. It may have been a circuitous route to get there, but he got there and that’s what counts. Isn’t it?
Monster ❤️ Old Rock Day
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops.
Norman Maclean
Yes, Monster loves old rocks. The older the better. He’s hiked on the Canadian Shield in Minnesota and on Isle Royale. He’s hiked on Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. That is hiking on the basement rocks of our continent, the foundation, among the oldest rocks to be found in North America. He’s well qualified to celebrate Old Rock Day.
Looking back, his greatest regret is that he didn’t bring back a rock or two from both locations to start a rock collection. That’s not legal in National Parks, and even if it was legal he wouldn’t do it. He’ll leave the beautiful rocks for another to discover, and hopefully they will leave them for yet another. Still, it would have been nice to bring back rocks from everywhere monster has backpacked or camped, nothing special at all, just a plain old rock for the collection.
If he had an old rock collection, which he does not, he’d like to have a small rock garden, a place for contemplation. You might ask why someone like Monster, who loves old rocks and geology would not have at least a small rock collection? The only thing I can say in his defense is that he lost his rocks thru divorce. And not just once…
Monster’s Ex-Wives ❤️Rocks
I sometimes choose to think, no doubt perversely, that man is a dream, thought an illusion, and only rock is real. Rock and sun.
Edward Abbey
I think we established that a scorecard is needed to track Monster’s history, there are three ex wives (who he loved very much), and one current wife (who he loves very much), and a handful of lovers and play partners (whom he loved but to whom he didn’t propose marriage.) For better or worse, he is who he is and they are who they are.
He seems to have a maddening effect on his ex’s, kinda like a red cape waving in front of a bull, so he’s learned to stay away. Does he wish they were all still friends? Sure he does. He doesn’t have a large collection of friends (being an introvert and everything,) but life isn’t always simple or neat.
His parents’ always used to say, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” He was also told he could be anything he set my mind on being. Of course Mom prevented him from setting his mind on anything, she insisted he be well rounded.
Once, watching the Winter Olympics together with his mother, Monster pointed out that the people winning medals didn’t have time to be well rounded, he knew it took single-minded dedication to excel at anything. His mom thought being well rounded was the road to happiness, she simply wanted him to excel at everything.
If life were only so easy…
Geology Professors ❤️ Old Rocks Too!
What are men to rocks and mountains?
Jane Austen
I’ll never forget one of my old classmates, who found themselves taking a final exam for Geology 101 as a College Freshman. One question on the exam dealt with fossils, asking for an example of a fossil. My buddy had paid little attention in class, he found the professor to be far past their prime, difficult to understand, and flat out boring.
Having attended an exclusive college preparatory school through Junior High and High School together, I knew he was incredibly intelligent. We are talking genius level intelligence, coupled with a very irreverent sense of humor.
I’m pretty sure he found the answer so obvious that the question seemed condescending. Next to the question asking for an example of a fossil on his final exam, he jotted down the Professor’s name and proceeded to turn his paper in.
I’m not sure if my former classmate would remember the past fondly, but I’ll never forget the story, and I’ll always celebrate Old Rock Day. After all, I hear it’s never too late to start a rock collection…
Time to Rock
Rocks are space, and space is illusion.
Jack Kerouac
We all know that rolling stones gather no moss. Bootsy Collins said, “The secret to walkin´ on water is knowing where the rocks are.”
Then there is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of “Le Petite Prince”, a book Monster read in it’s French language original, and in it’s English translation. Saint-Exupéry sees something else in old rock. He said “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”
I’m not sure I want to define rocks by their use, like Saint-Exupéry seems to do. I don’t see rocks as potential, I don’t really see rocks as anything but rocks, they fascinate me in all their forms.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with a quote by the father of the modern environmental movement…
As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.
John Muir
In writing this today, I came to the realization that I ❤️ old rocks. Yes indeed, every old rock has a story to tell…
