Stacking Rocks

I have come across stacked rocks many times in my life and pause a moment to take in the beauty and wonder each time.  A few years ago my Dad, Mom, brother Scott and his wife Marla and I visited Moab.  Always such a beautiful place!  We went hiking and along the trail were Cairns.  At first it was hard to form the word but I came to know that you say it as if you are saying "Karen".   I asked my Dad what they were and he explained that in this setting people stack rocks to mark the trail.

Then I found out there is much more to the story.  Some people stack rocks as a form of art.  Some hikers call them "duckies" - which point the direction to the next stack because the top rock looks a little like a beak and it would lead the way to go - it's a little like the Hansel & Gretal bread crumb theory.

There are several purposes - they may mark a burial site, some mark the summit of a mountain, in North America many cairns were used for astronomy.  Cairns are found all over the world.  Universally it is customary that when you hike and come upon a stack of rocks you should always add your stone to the pile.

I like to think simple - in my mind they are beautiful!  I like to think there is meaning associated with the sculptor who started the cairn - it may be that they wanted to leave something behind so others could pick it up for their own meaning.  It could embody some kind of value worth reflecting upon.  It could be that as we scramble through our hectic lives and we come upon a cairn it makes us pause - and wonder upon it.

My sister has many Rock Stacks in her yard.  Each one unique, each one beautiful.  It seems that in the Price family we have always felt the need to pluck a rock from here or there.  Our Dad has many rocks - big and small that he has gathered over the years.  Each one has a story, each one has a message.

My sister Ruth gave me these rocks and I have stacked them on a shelf in my home.  I admire these rocks and change the positions sometimes.  There are days that I walk past this cairn and feel a need to reach out and touch it.  I like to think that the practice of stacking rocks is mainly a gesture of asking or wishing for good fortune to be bestowed on the stacker or possibly that each stone within the stack represents a particular wish for ones self or ones family.