Rocks Ahead, Rocks Behind

Boulders And Pebbles And Stones, Oh My!

There’s no rock pile Little Bean won’t try to climb!

You know, we mention rocks a lot over here at Day By Day, so we thought it might be wise to make sure all our new subscribers know why. And alas, Little Bean and I have been so busy with so many other things lately - school, music, travel - that the ROCKS part of our lives has gone somewhat neglected.

We’ll try to get back to the rocks!

I thought of all this last week during a field trip to pick apples up in Hopkinton, where Little Bean was instantly drawn to climbing through a large boulder and gravel field in the back of the orchard.

Our Rocks Field Guide project has been such a successful source of pride and fun for us. We’re two field guide books in on what we had envisioned as a four-volume set. And our FB community, NH Rocks That Rock, has grown to 2,500 rock hounds, eager to earn patches and earn a completion certificate.

You can see a pic of the two books below.

Even after all this time, I’m not certain what it is that draws (not just kids) people to rocks and stones. When we had an estate sale at my dad’s house, I recall putting a line in the notice that there would be a coffee can full of rocks. I was surprised by the amount of people who stopped by just to check that out. Punch in “rocks” at FB Marketplace and you’ll get pages and pages of rocks of all types for sale. I have a kid patron who collects rocks for me and I have a collection of his finds in my office - I treasure them!

What’s that old saying… Rocks Remember. Plant a kid in the middle of a vast garden and I guarantee they will gravitate first to the rocks, and probably turn them over. We always want to see what’s under them, or in them.

I would be very surprised if there were any among you that did not have at least one rock within arm’s reach right now. As I’m typing this, I have six.

Sidenote: A huge rock was also responsible for my attaining my first set of stitches, five of them on my knee. I suppose it’s not entirely the rock’s fault.

And so we’ll rock on, her and I. After everything we’ve been though, all the interests that haven’t stuck as much, rocks appears to be sticking around. We hope we’ll see you out in the rock garden!