The Squire (the cube shaped granite rock), having told the other rocks how he had ended up meeting the beautiful round stone Rhonda, when he had been first washed up on the beach at St Bees Head, continued to tell the story of how their friendship slowly evolved.
"There was a gradual metamorphosis." He told them.
At first they gave each other a lot of space. They learned to appreciate each other's various facets. The main thing that they had going for them was the fact that they were both fairly elderly. It was an important part of their makeup. Being many million years old enabled them to have perspective, and not feel they had to rush into anything. The fact that they were both 'mature' was one of the essential elements to their 'getting along, as essential as oxygen and silicon, the other two most common elements contained in rocks.
Stones don't often 'fit in' with each other if they are not of similar ages. The older the better. Stonework looks too busy, too disjointed and quite unrestful if their are fresh split stones, or newer looking stones, especially if it is mixed in with weathered, older looking stones. Generally stones like being built together with others who are of a similar age, sharing the same time period. If this is not possible, they need to at least have spent a similar length of days above ground.
New stonework, where every stone appears freshly cut, may look stunning, crisp and clever but it will not likely have the depth, the character and the rustic appeal of walls built with older untooled stone. Stones that give no indication of their having be chiseled, or drilled or sawn or even polished, will gladly yield to a mason who is tuned in and wants to have them look their best. The charm of modernity can not compare with the beauty of age. The sense of history even in new stonework, that sense that it has been there for a long time, a quality which is so appealing in walls and buildings made of stone, is something not to be resisted or suppressed. Most rocks, being of such a great age, prefer to have this enduring attribute emphasized. Their permanence and long-lasting durability is something to be celebrated. They are troubled by those who strive merely to make a stone structure look new. This is because they know better than humans that it is far too easy to create something that looks new.
Rocks don't need to look new. They don't need to change much, or be changed. They are not big on novelty. They find it hard to conform to fads and fashions. They laugh at the idea of anyone trying to modernize them, or try to fabricate or duplicate their genuinely natural look.
Rocks love to be together but they are not into reproduction. They love to fit well with each other, but they are not into synthesis or artificiality. A good waller 'marries' stones of different sizes and shapes into a wall, allowing for their variety to compliment the overall look. Forced conformity is not attractive. It detracts from a marriage.
The Squire and Rhonda were opposite shapes. It didn't take much to see that they were 'attracted' to each other. It was a physical, even structural kind of attraction that would last a long time, and they knew would work well in a wall one day.
To be continued, on and off, in the next few months.....
