Ocean Rocks
Rocks. I have been obsessed with them in one way or another since the beginning of the pandemic. I am not sure why, suddenly, I am in love with rocks.
Well, suddenly isn’t accurate. There was that geology class in college and there is a need to connect with random rocks that began at the girls rock on my grandparents farm. But it was this summer’s trip to the mid-coast of Maine where my fixation really took hold. It was as though they were talking to me, “take me, take me” so I took them…so many…and the sand that came with them. I grabbed pockets full at every stop and my longsuffering husband had pockets full. He would make treks back to the truck so I could continue collecting rocks. He would sit and stare at the ocean as I collected them. He would observe everything else and just give me time and space to seek out my rocks. Me apologizing and him saying, “Take your time, we don’t need to be anywhere.”
And as I collected them, I thought of people. People I love, people I know, and people I would meet at some point. For the people I love, I scrutinized the rock. I felt it roll in my hand, the weight, the softness or the rigidity. I found little markers that were identifiers for them and I said a prayer as I made the choice. I protected them as I transferred them from one place to the next, and for me it was a genuinely spiritual experience.
As the week progressed, the paper plates, napkins, brown bags and solo cups multiplied and my excitement increased. I would wake up and look forward to seeing my rocks. I would enlist my willing family members to “ooh and aah” over them. Meg, (my scientist) to her credit, really got identifying what I had gathered (which also included snails) while the others just looked at them artistically, as I had. My middle child and her beau began their own collection. And we all compared and fawned over each other’s find. It was wonderful.
So why rocks? Why so passionately and why so suddenly? I really thought about this and I could only think that it is the life of an ocean rock that was drawing me in. I will share that next time.
Here are some of my rocks, cleaned up and mineral oiled.