Basalt of the Earth.

Basalt Columns look manmade. They look like they are trying to look like a lot of work went into carving them. They are just asking to be stood upright , and to be used like bookends where dry stone walls start and end . And why not?  They work.

We’ve used them in a number of stone art installations and I’ve used them creatively in workshop projects too. 

Here we used three columns as bookends in this triangular three style wall workshop at Lygso Stone Supply in Redwood city 

Here one shorter basalt served as a middle column for a double arch workshop I did with beginners. 

This ‘test wall’ we created back in 2015 between two trees was successful enough that we reconfigured it in a second project using basalt columns to substitute for trees.

Imagine that ! Basalt stone, not just looking manmade but pretending to be trees too. 

However instead of designing a project with basalt columns at ends of walls, I thought why not have them holding the corners of a structure connecting six walls making a hexagonal shape. 

The columns would have the strength and mass and weight to do the job, and give it a beautiful manmade architectural look

In any case, making six conventional cheekend hexagonal wall corners with just mica schist material, (which was what we planned to use on the bulk of the hexagonal temple), would have been very difficult to do, and we would end up having corners with very weak bonds. So that's where we lean on the basalt to come to the rescue. 

We just stood the columns up on end and then began to build/butt our six walls up to them. Voila!

And by the way, the man behind the very difficult job of cutting all six of the columns perfectly square enough at the bottom, so that they would stand on the pad absolutely upright and steady, without any rods or fasteners, was our man on the scene Shawn Kelly. Good job there Kelly

The point is its not difficult to find ways to accommodate such accommodating material into the dry stone mix.. And that's what we did in designing the six- sided temple.

Except now, the design had changed somewhat. 

But that's for another blog entry.

And so began the next stage of the temple with no name yet.

 

Our New Hexagonal Pad

Our plan to build it there at the crossroads changed when our patron client crane operator and heavy material transporter informed us it would be too tricky to attempt to build a structure of that size in such a difficult place to get to. Plus the rains were coming and the stagecoach road would become a big mud slide. 

So we explored other options on the property and came up with a great one. The top of a prominent hill. Good access. Highly visible. And a nice veiw through the trees from the northern approach . 

And so began our laying down of the base line of our hexagonal  rock temple.  It had several other names back then but nothing was sticking yet.

Our plan was to measure everything carefully and create a six inch thick reinforced hexagonal concrete pad to build our structure on. (I was outvoted on building it without a pad.)

So Mark Ricard, Shawn Kelly, Sean Adcock and I set about forming it in, raking in the gravel, putting in the rebar, and spreading and levelling the concrete when it arrived.

It looks dazzling don't you think?

Sean stood holding makeshift upright concrete tools either side of him, to imagine the size of and where the first arched opening was supposed to go, and to get a sense of proper proportion. We had no idea how many Brenda's high it would be. 

From here on, we would be building everything else with natural stone . No devil's cream, or any of that horrible Devil's Porridge!

 

 

The Y Intersection

The original plan involved being invited to think about what we might be able to do in the way of a new stone installation, to be positioned in a more remote part of a property in an area of California we now affectionately call the StoneZone . This time it would be directly in the middle of the Y intersection created by the Old Stagecoach Road (running east and west) and a newly cleared track that forked off to right (northwest). The idea was that whatever it was, could be seen from three directions. The flatfish area was flanked with abrupt changes in elevation and trees and bushes which meant that anything we built there would likely be seen only if you were approaching from one of the three directions.

I had previously dreamed of an idea of one day doing a six-sided six-arched dry stone structure and had drawn several sketches of it and developed it more on the computer. The design seemed like it could be adapted to still have six sides, but instead, have only three arches, all three facing the three roads, and the other three, no-road sides, be solid walls. 

The idea took. And in January of 2019 we started laying out the optimum dimensions and staking out the six corners. Imagining the structure inside this new intersecting space seemed a bit contrived, even though it was exciting to be considering being able to create something in such a standalone site, with no other existing structures around it, competing for the view.

As we measured and tried different angles to get the thing aligned to the roads, Sean Adcock and I realized the three arches could not each be evenly separated. The asymmetry of the Y shape created by the skewed angle of the three road directions, meant that the building would have to have two adjoining arched sides and then two adjoining solid wall sides and then one lone arch and then a lone solid side. 

And still, it didn’t look like. I wonder why.

 

Go Configure !

 I probably should tell you right away that I don’t know why we built the Temple of Imperfections. I know how the concept came about, and what we thought it would involve, and what it would likely look like,  and even conjectured on what it might mean and what impression it might give, and yet I still have no understanding of the ‘why’ of it. Why DID we build it? I could make up something about configurations and alignments that made it have some special purpose in planning of planting crops or something to do with fertility rites. But I won't. 

I rather console myself that there are likely many things, built of stone, long lasting things, some of them very massive structures , some very difficult to erect, dotted all over this ancient globe, which were painstakingly built with tons of men and many many more tons of stone, built by people like me and you, who really had no idea what they were doing, not because they were unskilled, but because they had absolutely no concept of why they were doing it. 

I imagine Stonehenge to be in this category. The people who came together to build this mysterious configuration of huge standing stones, likely stood back themselves when they were done and wondered what it was actually for, and pondered to understand why exactly they had built it. Thankfully they built it with a material durable enough to last ages and ages, so that it would allow enough time for someone in some future more ‘advanced’ culture to unlock the essential cause for its having been made. 

Likely any of the builders back then , who were asked the question "Why was it built?", would have had to answer, ‘because’.  And so we join with our stone brothers and sisters of the past, and say “ until the mystery of why we did it, is revealed to any of us, we can only scratch our heads and answer, "Well..mostly, just because !"

( More of the story of how, where, when, what, and who to follow )

Is there a dry stone wall there?

 

This distant ribbon of morning mist, spreads linearly along the valley, suggests evidence of a wall being there, or rather, having been there, like some lingering apparition of a memory, that now becomes a 'ghost wall' for those that can see it. We pause and consider what kind of other-worldly entity this could be, floating above the earth. The concept of 'spirits' appearing, we thought, usually involves animate or previously living beings, and yet what we are seeing is a wall of lifeless stones that have been gathered (by whom?) and are now returned to the field from the past, or perhaps are visiting here from the future. A thin line of rocks presumably, made of minerals and aggregates of material matter, are formed into a ghostlike strand of misty weightlessness . This is surely a vision of real 'mineral spirits', dissolving our sense of how things should or shouldn't appear.

 

We Are Beautiful Ruins

 

We get older, sure. And, eventually we start to collapse . We settle and lean and slowly, if we are true to our selves, take on the nature of a beautiful stone ruin.  It happens magically, a little bit more each year. That's because we're not made of any of that indestructible manufactured stuff like the plastic garbage that fills all the dumps and oceans with non-disintegrating purposelessnes. No, we age with a beautiful timely decomposure. We don't 'lose' our composure we 'find' it within that which has crumbled. 

Our purpose is to let time wear us down like an old stone castle or some stately ruins. There, covered with moss and ivy, amidst the fallen down sections, much of the structure is still proudly standing. The sense of place is strongest here. 

We seek out these kind of beautiful places in our travels because their mystery has a value far beyond the mere cleverness of novelty or 

the predictability of common knowledge. We look to find a genuine experience that isn't just trendy or even understood. 

So too, a person for whom time has been given a place to do what it needs to do, begins to take consolation in nolonger being something that has not yet started to collapse. 

Those of us who enjoy discovering an old stone ruins standing in the mist , seem to sense something hidden there , more than the sum of all the parts - both real and missing. There will always be more beauty to be missed . And we perhaps, as ruins, will too eventually dissolve away and become nothing but mist.         

Do cars always look more impressive parked next to stone walls?

 

The Cozy Cocoon

My home is never more than a stone‘s tow away. I have made myself a rockreational trailer. It’s not a TraveLite that’s for sure.It’s not a new fangled mortarhome either. It’s more like the Rockwood brand, but without the wood. 

I call it The Cozy Cocoon. It’s made entirely of heavy duty long lasting stones. It has a two and a half foot high circular door opening that leads to a spacious compartment with a six foot, dry-laid, vaulted ceiling. It has surprisingly good ventilation and yet has a very quiet feel to it when you’re  inside. It travels smoothly when I drive carefully but when I tow it fast it’s got a lot of pick up.

I’m looking forward to going on a camping adventure with it soon. It will be exciting to travel down the old dusty cobblestone trail by day, and sleep ‘inside’ my cobblestone trailer by night . And when I’ll pull over late at night I’ll  climb into my mobile dry stone home and sleep like a rock.And when I wake up and crawl out I’ll find myself somewhere I’ve never been before , feeling like a totally new person.

Lichen Landingpad

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It took me a long time to paint the lichen but obviously not as long as it took to grow on the rock .

I studied the pattern of tiny fronds, embroidered together in crusty clusters of frosty blue-green rock barnacles.

I painted for hours but I could not approach the detail I was seeing in the patch the size of a fried egg.

There is a seemingly visible yet infinite (and uncontainable) world contained in just the smallest patch of what I'm told is a fungus/alga combo.

I look down on this medieval micro-metropolis  of craggy towers and crowded dwellings . A complicated community of common diversity.

A  symbiotic relationship too complex to understand (or paint apparently ).

A knotted rug 'landing-pad' for dragonflies to alight upon.

Are there any stones we won't like later?

 

I don't think you're going to like that one later.

Sean Adcock builds dry stone walls for a living. He is damn good at what he does. In fact he’s probably the best waller I know. Working along side him on a project, could be very intimidating but it isn’t. 

 The thing is, it would be very easy for him to say disparaging things about your work, or thoughtlessly point out things  your doing wrong all day. But Sean, who is often grumpy and seemingly unfriendly most of the time, is surprisingly delightfully tactful when the occasion calls for it.

 Now and then when it’s needed, he’ll show up almost magically beside you, just after you’ve put what you thought was a harmlessly iffy stone in the wall and say ”I don't think you're going to like that one later”. He’s usually always right. But he’s given you the credit that you’d know you will have noticed it eventually. Can you see something that the person who built this wall might have come to not like later, in the photo above?

unop ap!5 dn

 

Our home made pie

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Care for a totally random shaped portion of keystone limestone pie?  Mother Earth made it.

Fun in the sun

Better than being chaste on the beach. This miniature Naked Waller on the Port Hope west beach is not even wearing gloves!

 

The Naked Wallers

 

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The body embraces every touchstone 

as if it were its own.   

Bare shoulders bare lonely boulders,

so they do not feel alone.

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In the company of the 'undressed' 

we discover each stone's erogenous zone.

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Dust Walker

 

We sometimes like to think that the dry stone walls we build, if built properly, will last a long long time. 

But we concede that, like every structure ever been built - even if they haven't yet, they will eventually all crumble . 

We are working with a nearly timeless inanimate material but time still wins. The stones go back to the earth. And they, like us, all turn to dust. 

 

The Lonsdale Arch Workshop

The four day Lonsdale Arch Workshop held from June 14 to 17 got off to a rocky start but ended up being a wonderful experience. 

End of day One was hot hot hot in the sun. The wall had begun. 

Day Twosday was Choosy Tuesday. We were all looking for that 'right' stone. Always looking over what's 'left' in the pile we hadn't used yet. Remembering the three truths of zen helps - 'Everything Is Connected , Everything Changes and Pay Attention.

Day three seemed like hump-day, up and over day. It was Wednesday. When's the day we finish ? Tomorrow !

Through's day. Thursday was Closure Day. We were all Arch friends by then . Happy students . Tired teachers. The stones had their way with us !

One of our more successful 'fishing' expeditions we took each day to look for more stones

We also took a field trip to see Ron's (one of the students) property and his garden stonework including his neolithic-looking table and take time to take a group shelfy .   Notice the dopplegangster bookends. 

Gravity is weigh less in the Moongate

 

Stretching It

  Although the July 30th to the Aug 1st two day weekend workshop at Sweet Life Farm stretched out to be a three day event for some of us, it was a totally enjoyable learning experience. Thirteen students and two instructors made use of the surprisingly good weather that the weatherman hadn't predicted, to produce this lovely 40 foot 'stretch' of wall to continue the line of dry stone we had started two years ago at the farm.

   Stones were gathered from the existing nearby hedgerow and reassembled into an amazing array of tidiness and beauty. Above you can see Jeff and Craig, and Jeff and Craig leaning on the wall after the second day of building.

  The wall was finished on the third day and copes added from the selection of leftover stones found further down the old hedgerow. Thank you Larry M for digging so many of these big stones out from the underbrush for us to use.

And thank you Mary for all the email and admin work getting the event organized to run smoothly.

  

Judy and Mary

Thank you too Judy for hosting this magnificent event with such great food from your abundant garden, and the cozy accommodation and evening entertainment, including walling stretches, music and libations

Ankle breaking celebration after competing day one of the workshop

Stimulating teaching by the inimitable Mark Ricard

Heartfelt hearting experts

Yoffi hard at work.

Another Sweet Life Wall is born

 

Curve Appeal

 Curve appeal?  Pitching and contouring the granite surface to look like bedrock( Bendrock ?) for the new parking area.

Baby Canada Geese on Victoria Day

 

Towing My Cocoon Stone .

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My home is never more than a stone‘s tow away. I have made myself a rockreational trailer. It’s not a TraveLite that’s for sure.It’s not a new fangled mortarhome either. It’s more like the Rockwood brand, but without the wood. 

I call it The Cozy Cocoon. It’s made entirely of heavy duty long lasting stones. It has a two and a half foot high circular door opening that leads to a spacious compartment with a six foot, dry-laid, vaulted ceiling. It has surprisingly good ventilation and yet has a very quiet feel to it when you’re  inside. It travels smoothly when I drive carefully but when I tow it fast it’s got a lot of pick up.

I’m looking forward to going on a camping adventure with it soon. It will be exciting to travel down the old dusty cobblestone trail by day, and sleep ‘inside’ my cobblestone trailer by night . And when I’ll pull over late at night I’ll climb into my mobile dry stone home and sleep like a rock. And when I wake up and crawl out I’ll find myself somewhere I’ve never been before , feeling like a totally new person.          

Think Bolder

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It's good to try to think about the plight of our friend the boulder 

It sits around on its own all day, and just gets older 

Alone it's waits so sedentary on the lawn 

Abandoned helpless and forlorn 

Why not have it joined with it's peers, 

and all its younger smaller kin

And in a circle of harmony and oneness,

invite the different sizes in ?

Keep your eyes on the road

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Welcoming travellers on the busy 401 highway to the Port Hope area (which has many beautiful dry stone walls and historic brick and stone buildings) is this sign with an example of phoney stonework, which is made, not of brick or stone, but manufactured blocks , but not real blocks , but rather, a photo of blocks, the image being made out of some sort of plasticated vinyl material .

Problem or Problem Solver?

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When we’re searching in a random pile of stones for good ones to build walls with, we sometimes come across unusual rocks that have weird crazy shapes. We've learned to carefully put them aside because, though they look like ‘problems’, they more than likely will turn out to be ‘problem solvers’. It’s magical how often they end up fitting ‘perfectly’ in some troublesome space we thought was going to be impossible to fill. To decide an awkward shaped stone is a problem, is like looking up in the sky and not seeing a silver lining but just a troublesome dark cloud.

May 1st 2021 World Naked Gardening Day

After a nice day of gardening in the buff, wouldn't it be great to take a hot outdoor shower in the garden too, surrounded, of course, by undressed stones.

 

Three Points on Balance

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Ultimately, a stone stays ‘balanced’ because it makes contact, not with one, but at least three unique points with the stone below.

These are often infinitesimal 'points' of contact, too small to see, but nevertheless, real. They form a kind of tiny tripod. If there were only two points of contact, the stone on top would fall away.

The dynamic of the tripod configuration creates a magical thing called balance.

Eventually, after an imposed time of being separated from each other, and undergoing a regime of isolation, we too, as a species (if we are not to fall completely off the planet) will need to establish contact again. 

I’m not even sure it’s right to say ‘again’. There’s no indication humans in the past found the kind of balance we are all going to need after what looks like a long period of separation . 

But I suggest there are at least three ‘touch points’ we will need to find when we come out of isolation.

Hopefully when we emerge from our exile there will be a yearning for a totally new kind of social contact.

And we’ll all be willing to create something more dynamic than the artificial glues, toxic cements and manufactured fasteners that we were content to use before. Three important points of contact of this new ‘balanced’ contact, will be emotional, physical, but more especially, metaphysical.

We, like lonely boulders will find ourselves in families.

The discarded piles of stones will come together and discover order and purpose.

The precious shaped buried stones will be unearthed and cherished.

We, like well-placed stones in a garden wall, will no longer be sporadically dotted around indiscriminately.

There will be a pattern of touching, totally different from the self-centred configurations of ‘pointlessness’ we have for too long pretended to be ‘balanced’ in the past.

Balance is not for quitters. (View web version)

 

Metamorphosis

And I dreamt I saw the boulders being bulldozed in the ground, and they were turning into butterflies beyond our imagination. 

Many of us who work with stone would concur that the expectation that we are due for some sort of mega-metamorphic rock-the-world event, is merely the evidence of the beginnings of a long awaited 'emergence', and that rocks, as in previous stone ages, have a rather big part to play in this cosmic phase shift.

The Butterfly Effect

The splitting of hard rocks that are not good or useful enough (we call them caterpillar rocks) - too round mostly, or too thick or are not flat enough, often creates pleasing symmetric shaped stones reminiscent of the paired wing patterns of the insect world.  We call this metamorphosis of lowly rocks into beautiful useful stones - the butterfly effect .