There are a couple of stone foundations and chimneys at Cedar Cross – remnants of the lives lived here in years past.
These structures were built using a resource of the land that occurs in abundance here – granite.
When an artist snatches the tail of her muse leading her toward a new medium, look out. There are entire commercial industries built around selling art supplies and teaching craft lessons and so on and so forth. And thank goodness for that, for the nurturing of creativity in folks however it shows up for them. I’m all for it.
But in my case, in this moment, less is more. I’ve lost most of my income for now because of this pandemic, so in my creative endeavors of late, I’m committed to working with what I already have, using what I already have, and not spending money if I can help it.
So THANK GOODNESS there is no end to the supply of rocks at Cedar Cross!
When this land was farmed, rocks were piled up out of the way of the plow. In the woods I can find piles here and there, lots of them. My understanding of the geology is that stone outcroppings tend to run northwest to southeast. That helps me know where to look. And John is helpful with directing me to outcroppings.
I have three piles going in the Sunny Garden. They are sort of sorted according to shape and function. Sort of. It’s all a work in progress.
One is for massive flat boulders. Those work well as steps, and I’m thinking of trying to do the main floor of The Pocket with those. That will be tricky and require the strength of Samson before his haircut. But, hey, since haircuts are hard to come by in pandemic times, maybe we can work something out. We’ll see.
Another pile is for stones with some depth and a lovely flat side. Those are for the pathway.
The third pile is for retaining walls. Smaller stackables are for the plant beds, and bigger rocks are for The Pocket wall.
John advised me when I started this project that with stone work, you’ll end up collecting more rocks than you’ll use, usually at a rate of three to one. Every rock placed is selected for that spot, so it makes sense that some won’t be chosen.
I guess that means at some point I’ll be making my own pile of rocks somewhere in the woods, available for someone else looking to build something some day in the years to come.
Jimmy Allen
Ginger Allen