To begin this blog post, I’ll borrow a line from a favorite John Denver song: “some days are diamonds, some days are stones” …
You can liken diamonds versus stones to life in general, or the weather.
In this case, I’m referring to the weather. Yesterday was just superb, and it got to 70 degrees by day’s end. My morning walk was perfect, and I racked up five miles with a warm breeze blowing and a blue sky overhead.
Today was not so great weather-wise. I went out to run the car and decided those few rain sprinkles that landed on my nose did not really warrant going back into the house, so, with my umbrella in hand I set out. I didn’t even get to the cross street before the raindrops started falling in earnest, so I headed home.
Yesterday’s trip to Council Point Park yielded more than merely gleaning steps and enjoying the ambiance. It was the first sighting of a painted rock for 2018. Last year, a new craze was born in many states, but especially here in Southeast Michigan. People started painting all shapes and sizes of rocks and hiding them around town, sometimes in parks, or often in eateries, malls, office buildings – you name the venue and you could find a painted rock. If you found such a “treasure”, you could either keep your “find” or re-hide it. I first wrote at length about being a rock hound in this post: https://lindaschaubblog.net/2017/05/07/rocky-road/
Those rock-hiding-and-finding-expeditions were the subject of several newspaper articles and a few posts by me over the course of the Summer of 2017. The fad lasted right through the Fall, with snow and cold putting the kibosh on any rock hiding/finding expeditions in park venues until Spring. With the late start to our Spring, there were no rocks hidden along the perimeter path at Council Point Park … that is, until yesterday (as to me anyway).
I saw a pink, polka-dotted rock festooned with orange flowers, but I left it there for someone else to discover and re-hide. I knew there would be plenty of kids arriving after school on such a warm, beautiful day and would love to find a rock that looked like it belonged in an era of hippies, flower power and “mod” art.
Though I followed the Downriver Rocks Facebook group site all last Summer, I’d not been there in ages, until I peeked just now to see if someone claimed that pretty rock I left behind. Amazingly, not one of the now 37,255 group members had posted a photo of their “find” so perhaps that beauty is still at large, or in someone’s home being used as a paperweight.
These creative folks buy their rocks in bulk at landscape supply stores and get their painting supplies from local craft stores. Some of the most-recent objets d’art that will be hidden or re-hidden once the pesky raindrops quit falling are pictured below, and you see they range from simple to sublime:
I’m thinking my blogging pal, elementary teacher AJ, might like to undertake this hobby with her class before school ends in June.
Since rocks are the topic for Tuesday Musings this week, I’ll share a gem I discovered this morning. This particular gem was a comment by Tom Peace, a fellow blogger who collects fossils and is knowledgeable about them. He has given me some insight into the rock I wrote about in Sunday’s blog post. All these years I thought the rock my boss brought me back from a trip to Canada was the cartilage of a baby dinosaur’s toe and Tom identified this unusual rock as “an orthoceras fossil, a cephalopod from the Ordovician or Silurian period… over 400 million years old, when Ontario and Illinois were all underwater (in a huge ocean). Orthoceras was a type of squid with a straight cone shell.”
You’ll recall I had wondered if this fossil was ancient sea creature. Now, that I know how old it is, perhaps I should scoop that impressive rock out of the rock garden and put it somewhere safe.
I’ll ponder on it … in the meantime, I’ll just keep rocking on, er … walking on.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
The weather is crazy now. Wonderful weather one day, the other day the worst storm. I like your rocks with the beautiful text you written on it. I think if we have read such a text every morning before we go to work we had been much happier. maybe I will write it on my mirror!😁😁😁
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More rain this morning and no walk for me again. Those rocks can be very inspiring … and worth writing messages on your mirror to start your day off on a happy note. Last Summer people were buying rocks and art supplies so much that the stores could not keep them in stock and people had to drive for miles to buy the rocks (they need to be in good shape to paint and write on), especially the craft supplies which had to be ordered online. I usually take a picture of them when I find them and post to the Facebook Group but leave it there – it’s not only kids that delight in finding them, adults as well.
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They are very popular here in Sweden to. Many stores sale them with text, they are pretty nice.
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They are so cool. That sort of thing is starting to catch on here a little bit now too
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I just peeked in the Facebook group last year from time to time and turned off notifications, etc. as there is a ton of posting. It will pick up once the weather is a little warmer and nicer – we are having our second morning of rain today so no walk for me and we will get weather like yours next week – 80s. I heard how warm it was for the London Marathon recently. Somehow we went from Winter to Summer.
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Oh yeah for the London Marathon it was scorching hot but that was on Sunday and whilst that was lovely we actually have snow forecast in parts of the country today. It’s freezing cold and I’ve got the heating on
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I’ve still got the heat on too Michael … I was hoping for a break between using the furnace and the A/C … while I don’t like to whine about the heat, and said after this cold Winter I would not complain, it is too early for 80s.
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A friend of mine ran the London Marathon in that Heat last weekend and quite amazingly after 26.2 miles the time he ran was, to the hour minute and second, exactly the same as the time he ran in the London Marathon last year . now that’s freaky
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That is freaky, especially since it was so sickening hot. They mentioned the heat several times that day. The Boston Marathon was rainy and sometimes freezing rain fell. I used to work with an attorney who ran the New York marathon each year, and one year it was so hot that he lost about 15 or 18 pounds by the end of the race, He said he could feel it as his clothes he had traveled to Boston in were just hanging on him – weighed himself at the gym and sure enough, he had sweat off that much weight. That’s not for me – the running. Too rigorous and hard on the bones as well. Kudos to your friend for finishing in that heat and same time – wow!
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And, before I leave … the one rock is the Jolly Roger going past Big Ben … some of these people are actual artist and produce some beautiful and creative rocks.
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I think they’re beautiful absolutely
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Wow that Peter Pan rock is amazing! So beautiful! I’d love to find that one though I don’t know that I’d let it go if I did! Neat idea 😊
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Finally our rain is over and I’m headed out shortly – who knows if some magic dust did not get soggy in the Park and I’ll find that Peter Pan rock. 🙂
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People should paint on rocks more often! They are such a durable medium! A National Geographic article had what seemed to be the earliest patterns drawn by man… and it was on rocks, not walls! 🙂
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Wow – that’s interesting … I always thought it was cave drawings. So I learned something. My parents subscribed to National Geographic for years and when they stopped the subscription I remember they tried to give them to the library and they said that no one requested those periodicals. Back in those days, my parents would have me watch the National Geographic TV specials, Jacques Costeau’s shows, Animal Kingdom. This rock craze really took off and likely will again once the weather stabilizes some. Next week we have 80 … not to complain but too hot, too fast and I hope 80 is not here to stay. I still have the furnace on, and I suspect that you in Illinois are not much different.
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We are dry here in Illinois, for spring! The creek beds are bone dry! We need rain!!!
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That’s amazing since you had so much snow in Illinois this past Winter. Our final snow total was 60 inches and the normal total is around 42 inches. After two days of rain, I noticed the water line in the storm sewers at Council Point Park is almost all the way to the top. The ducks cannot duck underneath anymore when they want shelter from storms or the cold. This 80 degrees next Tuesday hopefully will not cause a humdinger of a storm … too hot, too fast.
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Miss Linda…………………………WOW………………………………that’s some pretty old important rock-fossil you have there………..young lady……………yes lets just “keep rockin, on…..”
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We will keep rockin’ on together Ann Marie – soon time for you to start painting some flag rocks too … in your spare time of which you have almost none because you are a good person.
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Wow! Those rocks are amazing! We actually painted rocks last June and hid them around the school for other kids to find. It was fun and popular. Thank you for the reminder- I’ll have to put that on the list to do again this year. I’ve screenshot your photos though so I’ll have ideas for my students to follow:)
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You’re welcome AJ – I didn’t know if that craze caught on in Canada or not. They are beautiful. I am in the Facebook Group “Downriver Rocks” and still peek in there from time to time, but turned off the posts as there are tons of posts, especially on weekends and Summer vacation when the kids are off. There were a lot of kids painting the rocks as well.
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I’m not sure it’s as big a craze here, but it was fun and made people smile:)
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I’ll bet the kids love it – here they said it was good for the kids as it kept them away from TV and their devices and they wanted to go to the big parks and search for or hide rocks and they also painted them as well. It was a win-win for kids … most of the rocks are in parks, though once it started getting cold, then snowy, the “rock painters” switched to first Halloween themes, then Christmas themes. The world needs to smile more.
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I think anything that takes a child outside into the fresh air is a good thing! A smile is just bonus:)
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You are so right – get those kids’ eyes away from their smartphones and enjoying the fresh air!
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My number one goal in life:)
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Good for you AJ … when the Pokemon craze was so big a couple of years ago, I’d never seen kids at the Park before (except the young ones that are on the playground equipment), but they gathered there, eyes focused on the screen for Pokemon characters – don’t think they were even looking around, just racking up those characters. And people kept saying “the kids are enjoying the fresh air” … well, I guess they did, but no face time with nature, just with their phone screen.
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I think it’s so sad to see everyone on their smart phones:(
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Me too, and not just because I have a flip phone. Adults can be bad about it as well.
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I do have a smartphone but it’s tucked away when I’m out or with people
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I know you do, but most people don’t know when to put it away. When I walk in the neighborhood, I have to constantly be watching for cars … police said today there are more pedestrian and bicyclist accidents than ever before due to people texting and watching movies on their smartphones.
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Wow I can’t walk and do anything, lol
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Me neither – I have to pay attention 100% of the time or will end up face down on the pavement!
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I often do even when I’m paying attention🤣
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Man, those rocks are cool 😀
I like the ones with “You rock!” and the Peter Pan one the best, but the others are also cool 🙂
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I like them too Sindre and there are some professional artists doing rocks and when I followed the site more closely, it was amazing what they could do on a small surface like a rock. Most of them are river rock that they buy at landscape supply stores. I have river rocks in my backyard and the stones are smooth, but not all that large. Some people like the larger rocks … a bigger canvas to be creative. 🙂
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My wife’s sister lives on the Oregon coast. They love to explore. They are always finding new things to bring home. So many things around us if we simply take the time to explore.
Great pictures. Thank you.
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Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed them. I hear Oregon is beautiful. My neighbor’s friend moved there about five years ago to be with her one daughter, but missed her friends in Michigan so returned three years later. But she said it was beautiful there and like the more temperate weather. I am glad we are finally getting some nice weather here, but they say it might get to 80 next week – that is too hot, too soon and hopefully it is a one-day event, because otherwise, we really had no Spring whatsoever. I enjoy my trip to the Park every day – it is five years today since I first went to this particular Park and am going to write about that in today’s post. That trip there, along with the walking regimen, were two good things I did for myself. I enjoy the mornings to walk because it is so quiet and peaceful and you hear and see more … it is not a huge part, nor is it a state park, but just big enough to get a woodsy feel. I have bought a recreation pass for Michigan state parks this year – first time I’ve done that, but I see people posting on Facebook that they saw deer, owls and different types of birds while on nature walks in different state parks and decided to expand my horizons a little.
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Aside from the wind, which can be pretty nasty, the Oregon coast is a beautiful place. Lots of little towns and the people are really nice.
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I didn’t know about the wind in Oregon. I would like to live in a more temperate climate – I hate driving in the Winter and this is because I took the bus for so many years and my car stayed in the garage (bus stop was at the end of the street) … so my Winter driving skills are nothing special. Although more and more of the southern states are dealing with snow now than ever before. It has been an amazing weather year … the northern suburbs here in Michigan, maybe 35 miles from where I live have a chance of snow flurries tonight.
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Wow, I never knew painted rocks were a thing! That fad seems to have skipped past these parts. Or, maybe it was here and I never noticed! It’s possible; I’m one of the most unobservant people around!
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It took off here after a group of people who winter in Florida, started a local group. Some of those people who then participated,went on vacation and took rocks to hide there and the craze started growing across the U.S.
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I see! The news about it never made it this far, I guess!
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A woman followed me on Twitter who is a walker in Maryland – we connected as we followed a heart-healthy site. She writes a blog called “Walking Frederick” which is a town in Maryland. Yesterday she posted a series of pics similar to what I did today and toward the end she had painted rocks on there which she had found. Was kind of surprised, but evidently it caught on there as well.
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She sounds like your soulmate! 😁
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That is beautiful – I remember when you told me about this craze last year.
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How beautiful! I wish I had that kind of talent!
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I agree – there were some lovely pictures in there – those were some of my favorites.
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Linda
Your fossil rock is amazing- I don’t know what to say. I have never seen a fossil rock before nor heard of anyone who has one. It must be valuable- anyway,. it sure is a treasure.
It does look like a fish embedded in it.
Susie
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I thought it was amazing too Susie. I should remove it and bring it into the house; it is embedded into the earth so that may be difficult to do. I put it there because no grass ever grew in that corner, so I put some rocks there instead. I think it looks like a fish tail too.
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