I love a rock. A stone. A pebble. A boulder.
I’m not sure exactly what it is about those rocks out there, but I feel a connection with them.
And just like people, I am prone to some more than others.
The thing is, I’m always searching for them. In parking lots. In landscaped areas. Along rocky paths. In the forest. Be by the ocean. Anywhere.
It makes no difference. I search.
I frequently scan the world for my new best rocky friend.
Perhaps it is the Neanderthal in me. A little Wilma Flintstone coursing through my blood.
It isn’t something new. I’ve had it all my life. When I was just a little girl, I’d come home at the end of the day. My mom would make me empty my pockets. And without fail, there they were. Piles of stones.
But all rocks are not the same. Physically. Or in their energy. And, as John McPhee once said, “Rocks are the bones of the Earth.”
There are roughly 4,500–5,000 types of rocks on Earth. That’s a lot of variety. These can be categorized into three main types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
But here is how the many categories go.
Igneous: Formed when magma or lava cools and solidifies. Igneous rocks make up about 65% of the Earth’s crust by volume.
I am not crazy about lava rocks, I’ll tell you.
Sedimentary: Formed when particles settle out of water or air, or when minerals precipitate out of water. Sedimentary rocks accumulate in layers.
These can look all sorts of different ways. But when you look up at a craggy wall of a mountainous area and see all those stripes? That would be sedimentary. One type, at least. River rocks are sedimentary, too.
Metamorphic: These are formed when existing rocks are transformed into new types of rocks through a process called metamorphism. This involves subjecting the original rock to high temperatures and pressures. Then, it turns, causing the rock to go through significant chemical or physical changes.
Overall, sedimentary rocks dominate river environments, with igneous rocks being less common. And metamorphic rocks being the rarest.
I talked about the energy of a rock. They are full of energy. Call me crazy. But sometimes, when you pick one up, you just know.
So there it is. My unexplained love for rocks. Put simply, they rock.
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“To be whole. To be complete. To be at peace. To be what we are—just like the Earth and the rocks.” — Mark Nepo
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“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu
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“The Earth has music for those who listen.” — William Shakespeare
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They totally rock. Wait. They are rocks.
