~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~
(one of many)
containing numerous indoor rocks.
These good luck rocks in my car are souvenirs
from Ben & Sam's sleepover at St. John the Divine
Junior high field trip ~ New York City ~ 2004
For many years now, my friend Jan and I have sustained an ongoing conversation about the role of rocks that come into our lives, sometimes bringing luck and stability, other times discomfort and consternation, but always providing a tactile connection to the universe. We keep them in a pocket, in a drawer, in the car, on the window ledge. If they get lost, we grieve their disappearance, then take up another favorite -- a new one is never far.
are from the Word Garden
at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center
More from Jan:
We Are On A Rock ~ Access ~ Pocket
Literary Connections
Starting with two collections of "indoor rocks"
1. "She is sitting at the desk where Hamnet kept his collection of pebbles in four pots. He liked to tip them out periodically and sort them in different ways. She is peering into each pot, observing that the last time he arranged them, he did so by colour, not size" (245).
by Maggie Farrell
2.
"I have saved two white stones,
whiter than any I have seen,
found in a patch of emerald green,
two white stones have I . . .
All these things I love best
I have kept in this old chest,
sorted and counted hundreds of nights
they all have given me a thousand delights.
Who can say how much they are worth?
For they are the miracles of the Earth."
[click to hear Johnny Whitaker sing: @ 57:15]
from the 1969 movie of The Littlest Angel
These two fictional boys, the Littlest Angel and young Hamnet (based on Shakespeare's real son) share the pastime of sorting and re-sorting their favorite pebbles and rocks (and other assorted items) sometimes by color, sometimes by size. Likewise, the real life Sir Isaac Newton recalls the childhood diversion of searching out pebbles and shells at the seashore. The little brother in Julie Otsuka's story has a souvenir from the sea -- "his lucky blue stone" -- but instead of a treasure box or a series of sorting pots, he keeps everything in his pockets.
3. While living in the Japanese internment camp in Utah, the little brother is given "a small red Swiss Army knife" for Christmas. He "carried the knife with him in his pocket wherever he went. Sometimes, when he was running, he could hear it clacking against his lucky blue stone from the sea and for a moment he felt very happy. His pockets were filled with good things" (92, emphasis added).
When the Emperor Was Divine “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
by Julie Otsuka
4.~ Isaac Newton ~
As does Newton, the next three writers combine the imagery of rocks with that of water. Kingsolver says that love is not the rock, love is the water, because water is stronger. Kind of like scissors, paper, stone. Armin adds romance and language, writing the name of a loved one on a rock in a river. Maclean expands into another dimension: the mystery of the universe. The rocks he describes are "from the basement of time," and "Under the rocks are words." Kind of like "In the beginning was the Word!
5.
"Love is no granite boulder, praised
for its size. It's the water that parts
around it, moving mountains."
by Barbara Kingsolver
from the poem "How to Be Married"
in How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)
6.
And remember how I wrote your name
On the rocks down by the river Seine
by Armin van Buuren
from the song "Looking For Your Name"
7.
"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. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”by Norman Maclean (1902 - 1990)
from A River Runs Through It
And because we all still believe
in Mother Earth and lucky rocks . . .
My Lucky Rock
I said to a squirrel,
“What is that
you are carrying?”
and he said,
“It is my lucky rock;
isn’t it pretty?”
I held it and said,
“Indeed.”
I said to God,
“What is this earth?”
And God said,
“It is my lucky rock;
isn’t it wondrous?”
Yes, indeed.
by Tukaram (c 1598 - 1650)
17th Century Saint and Poet
From what is now the modern-day state of
Maharashtra, India
9.
Not forgetting The Lorax
Next Fortnightly Post
Wednesday, May 14th
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ See Lucky Rock & Rocky Road
my shorter, almost daily blogs
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
