The Fraternity Of Rocks

I continually meet people who appreciate, seek out, collect, and treasure rocks. Whether for their simple beauty, their gravity, their tactile sensuality, or their durability and permanence, they are parts of our lives. We rub them as touchstones, anchor our ephemera with them as paperweights, design garden settings around their textures, and decorate our homes with them.

They may represent stability in an atmosphere of change - they may serve as foundations in a world of uncertainty. In a seemingly limitless array of colors, shapes, sizes, and structures, they imbue us with their strength. They solidify memory and connection to place and time.

You know who you are. If you are nodding your head, glancing at your collection, or thinking of the spot where you gathered a favorite specimen, you are a member of The Fraternity Of Rocks. We're a large community - enjoy the company.

Two Quotes

 "Censorship is advertising paid by the government"                     Federico Fellini

"Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy."
                    Nora Ephron

Eccentricities

"Develop your eccentricities while you're young.

That way, when you get old,
people won't think you're going gaga."
Anonymous

The Thanksgiving Icon

Forget the Pilgrims, the Indians, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock. Aside from football and Black Friday looming, Thanksgiving is about eating. I can't think of any other American holiday so focused on gustatorial endeavor. Hours on end go into preparation - minutes go into consumption. So, it was with both humor and wry enjoyment when, several years ago, I found the following shopping list at a Shaw's in Manchester, VT. In its iconic enumeration of menu and ingredients, it fully embodies the essence of the holiday. Forget the typos, the calories, and Martha Stewart's missing hand - enjoy it as a symbol of our American tradition and one family's way of celebrating the day. 

Beachcombing

 

Nothing defines 'vacation' to me more than beachcombing - having the time to poke through

 wave tossed detritus - looking for objects of no intrinsic value and immeasurable personal worth.

Sanctuary



My wife and I recently returned from our annual trip to downeast Maine. Every trip is magical, fulfilling, adventurous, and energizing. The 're's are also in evidence - restoring, rejuvenating, refreshing, revitalizing, replenishing, and renewing. I've looked these words up in the dictionary and, as always, find new subtleties and meanings for words I thought I knew.  At least, I know how I feel when I'm there.

As I thought about how I feel there, the word 'sanctuary' came to mind. We've come to think of this area as our sanctuary and it never fails to deliver. I've asked a number of individuals and couples if they too have a sanctuary and have been disappointed to learn that most people don't. I'm not sure why. I can't imagine not having a safe harbor, a special place, nor haven.

A final note on the word sanctuary. Again, I find that the definition in my head doesn't quite match all the definitions in the dictionary. That's OK. What's important is how we feel there and what it means to know what awaits us when we arrive. It helps keep us grounded knowing it's there and only time and distance are in the way.

Lou's and Lloyd's