An Abundance of Stones

We live not far from Cayuga lake, and when we speak of “the lake” that is what we mean -- deep cold water surrounded on many sides by rock face and tree-covered hills in alternation. I had never lived near a lake before, and we are still somewhat amazed and grateful to have it as a neighbor. Imagine our surprise on our first visit to Lake Ontario- we thought of Cayuga as a large lake (it is the longest of the Finger Lakes) but it is small compared to Lake Ontario whose opposite shore disappears beyond the horizon. Unlike walking the silty shore of lake Cayuga, where I can gaze at the landscape as I walk, we noticed walking the shore of Lake Ontario day after day, that our eyes were constantly drawn down; the shore where we walked was covered with smooth, rounded stones making a bumpy and uncertain footing -- at times like walking on marbles. On our Lake Cayuga shore dark grey shale rocks, pointy and flat, predominate. The shores of Lake Ontario collect some of the most diverse rocks in the world rounded and polished by the motions of the lake. 

As my we walked and rambled and gazed my eyes were drawn to particular stones. At first I was charmed by the perfectly smooth oval stones in pastel colors- many had subtle stripes or concentric circles showing the layers which formed the rocks over time. Others sparkled and looked like diamonds reflecting the sun in the shallow water. My husband and I noticed some that made us laugh- one, he said, resembled Fred Flintstone’s remote (we brought that one home). Many had flecks of bright colors -- pink, red, yellow. The green ones were rare, so I had to pick those up when we saw them. Some we admired for their smoothness and rubbed them between our fingers. Some had beautiful stripes like the landscape. I could go on. In fact, all week I admired the stones, in piles and one by one. We filled our pockets with stones and made stones into beach sculpture. I brought some up onto the deck, to admire them once again -- to notice how dramatically they changed when dry. 

There were just too many stones. Too many beautiful, unique, interesting, smooth, shiny stones. I put my very favorites (still too many) in a container to take home when we packed up, and we brought the rest back to the beach where, of course, there was still an unimaginable number of stones beckoning.

This is a good problem to have. I remember days when I’m so down that nothing seems beautiful; hard feelings obscure my sense of joy and gratitude like clouds in front of the sun, and everything seems dull and grey. What a blessing to have days where I am cheered and inspired and moved by the beauty that is all around us, even the stones beneath our feet. “Taste and see” encourages Psalm 34 and truly there is goodness all around us, even in this world that also has struggle and sorrow. 

On such a morning, standing at the edge of the lake looking at those stones sparkling I feel, somehow, responsible for seeing, tasting, enjoying and being grateful for it all. There is so much when you gaze on the world around us in wonder and awe; some days it overwhelms me. It is too much for our human hearts- it is simply too immense. Perhaps we can only really love it one stone a time -- one flower, one sunset, one friend at a time. I can imagine coming to know this so deeply that I no longer have to fill my pockets with rocks, that I could hold a lovely thing in my hand, and then set it down, knowing that there are truly an infinite number of beautiful things all around us. In the meantime I do enjoy that bucket of rocks I brought home from our time away. For now it is enough.