Rock Stacking

6 January 2017

Stacking things is, I think, innate. From the time we're old enough to grasp things in our hands, we start trying to stack those things up! Toy companies make millions . . . probably billions . . . of dollars selling parents toys that are meant to be stacked. Google it, and you're likely to get a result that looks like this:

Kids don't realize the educational value . . . the fine motor skills they're building as nervous parents watch to make sure their children are developing "on schedule" . . . kids just think it's fun! Naturally these stacking games help kids work on not only their fine motor skills, but balance, language development, visual and spatial perception, gross motor control, crossing midline among other things! Some of these kids grow into architects, musicians, project control managers . . . you name it . . . the possibilities are endless!

What are you talking about Yaya . . . the title here is "Rock Stacking?!?!?"

Sorry, off track again . . .

Well, that love of stacking things never goes away . . . at least it didn't for me. I was fascinated with Native Americans at an early age, and they actually used rock stacking for a number of reasons (actually, many cultures from the beginning of time have used rock stacking for one reason or another). Rock stack were used for things like trail guides, sacrificial altars, religious symbols, water markers, burial sites, and directional guides. Technically they're called "Cairns."

It even carried into my adult years. I'd stack rocks everywhere I went . . . hiking, at the beach, at roadside picnic areas . . . mostly because I found it sort of therapeutic when I was feeling out of sorts. I taught the girls in my Girl Scout troop how to mark trails so they could find their way back or give instruction to another troop that might want to follow our trail. I even introduced The Captain to the practice when he took me to Buttermilk Falls in New York.















Here are a couple of our creations:

Google it, and you'll now find it's a highly controversial practice . . . many people claiming that rock stacking is ruining the environment . . . referring to it as "Natural Graffitti!" Maybe it is . . . maybe it isn't . . . but I can see some of their points when people move huge amounts of rocks to other places. Thing is, I just don't really believe man can completely destroy nature. Oh, we might change the course of a river or strip a mountain in such a way that the mountain erodes, but nature itself does damage far beyond what man can do . . . we just need to be more thoughtful about it.

Of course, I suppose, by the time you're an adult, you'll be reading this and shaking your head in disbelief . . . disbelief that your own grandmother practiced this. I mean, I shook my head in disbelief when I found out MY grandmother actually stole rocks from the mall to landscape her yard . . . not that I was worried about environmental impact . . . but that she was a thief!!! I think if you use rocks close to where you're stacking, and Mother Nature could eventually knock them back where they came from, you're okay.

Regardless, I don't do some of the more elaborate stacking . . . though I find it rather amazing! They even have a Rock Stacking World Championship . . . it's held at the Llano Earth ArtFest in Llano, Texas!! Those creations are spectacular!!!

My point: I don't know . . . find something creative you love . . . find something that calms you . . . go to that Rock Stacking World Championship . . . chastise your Yaya for ruining the environment . . . just don't ever, ever lose your sense of wonder!!