Exercise and cardiovascular health are two reasons I spend time on the bike, but the big reason is getting in touch with nature. I enjoy walking and hiking too, but being on the bike, “Out There,” is exhilarating. It’s as if I can feel what the Falcon feels as it soars high in the sky, or the Antelope, muscles bulging, sprinting across the plains.
Even when I commuted to work on “Double Cross” a decade ago in the 4th-largest city in the U.S., there was plenty of nature to experience along the bike trails next to Mason Creek and Buffalo Bayou. Thousands of birds; Herons, Egrets, and Red-Winged Blackbirds. Plenty of animals: wild hogs, alligators, and Nutria. And trees, lots of trees. The waterways were like thin but vibrant arteries of nature coursing through the industrial wasteland.
The birds, bees, flowers, and trees garner a lot of attention, but rocks are part of nature, too. Think about it. The mountains are massive rocks, and the beaches are just billions of itsy-bitsy rocks. Diamonds are high-pressure rocks, and quartz is a high-frequency rock. Rocks don’t get near as much attention as whales and wolves. No one lobbies to “Save the Chalcedony.”
“What are men to rocks and mountains?” ~ Jane Austen
Actually, there are millions of rockhounds out there, from very serious collectors to little children. I remember when my granddaughter Makayla was a little girl, she would constantly bring me rocks because she knew I liked them just as much as she did. “Grandpa, isn’t this rock beautiful?” And it was, as most rocks are. I love rocks. If it were up to me, our entire yard would be rocks.
Big rocks to climb and medium rocks to sit on. A sandbox filled with gemstones where I could sit and ponder the majesty of nature. We actually do have an outdoor room with a floor made of rocks and a ceiling of cedar and juniper branches. In fact, I’m sitting there now as I write this “Dirt Road Diary” entry. The floor is mostly #8 gravel, but bigger rocks and stones are scattered around the room.
That’s the cool thing about collecting rocks. I can bring them back to the cottage, toss them on the ground, and they’ll just be there. It’s not like coin collecting or being an audiophile. You don’t have to worry about someone breaking into the house and making off with your collection, or who you’re going to leave it to when you die. You just end up with a big pile of rocks.
“Knowledge comes from books. Wisdom comes from rocks.” ~ Jayita Bhattacharjee
I’ve seen a lot of interesting rocks on the dirt roads in the neighborhood. Every once in a while, I picked one up, and if it looked like it would impress Makayla, I’d bring it home and toss it on the floor of the rock room so I could show it to her the next time she came to visit. So the collection grew slowly, but recently I decided to see if I could find a new rock every time I go for a ride.
Makayla is into eyeshadow and lipstick now, but perhaps as time goes by she’ll rekindle her love for rocks. And even if she doesn’t, I can sit among the Chalcedony, Granite and Chert and ponder nature’s majesty.
