Without a Cairn
Casey put a name to the piles of stones we found over by the creek that runs through Pease Park. She called them Cairns, but I guess hikers also call them ducks. Normally, they are used to mark important spiritual areas or to help people stay on a path. These structures, however, seem to exist just for the sake of existing.
It took some doing to get to the spot where the rocks were on display. Both myself and my mama friend got a bit wet in the going there (thankfully all of our electronics arrived without damage!) and one of the kids totally slipped and fell in a puddle of muck. At one point, too, I looked up to find Coley on the other side of the creek, balancing precariously on a very steep rock face, with about 20 yards to go before reaching a more reasonable incline, and about 5 feet up from the shallow, rock filled water. There was nothing I could do but try to be encouraging and ready to spring if he fell. He had confidence in himself that he could do it, so I cheered him on, but once he reached a safer vantage I had to say "I am so proud of you that you were able to do that...DON'T EVER DO IT AGAIN!!!!!"
I was pleased the cairns were still there. We first saw them last Sunday, but didn't have as much time to spend with them as I would have liked. So we planned a field trip for Friday to go down and admire and create some of our own precariously balanced sculptures of rock. I was delighted by the fact that the children spent a good deal of their time working together and/or at the very least not totally picking on each other. Neither did they seem the remotest bit tempted to knock over each others' creations or the creations that were there before we arrived. For some reason, these structures, impermanent as they are, seem to demand a certain amount of respect for their mere existence. I loved the offhand life lessons they seemed to generate in the unconscious conversations of the children. One of the kids accidentally knocked a small pile over and was regretful. But I pointed out that the beauty of ephemeralist art is its fragility. A brisk wind could knock one down. They aren't created for any other purpose than the joy of creation and perhaps the thought that they might be observed and enjoyed for what they are.
I have always been fascinated by ephemeralist art. In this age when everyone strives for more storage and more permanence, it is good to be reminded that sometimes beauty can be fleeting, and that's ok. Some beautiful things aren't meant to be preserved or put on display or even shared with anyone else. I know I am experiencing that in my life on a regular basis lately. I don't know if it is my age or just a phase I am going through, but I tend to not want to share the beautiful moments in my life with more than maybe one or two people at a time. Sometimes I even keep them all to myself! Of course, as I type this, I am uploading my images to flickr and I realize I am capturing the moment here in words, after having spent my entire time there ensconced in the glow of various technological devices recording in various ways my enjoyment of it...but I am nothing if not absolutely hypocritical, and you must learn this and deal with it. :P Also, I found it perfectly ironic in a most wonderful way that as I sat there, I mourned the fact that I did not have a copy of "Scriptures of the Golden Eternity" with me, so I popped onto the internet on my phone and found a copy online that I read and forwarded to my twitter friends. Hee hee.
At any rate, the children busied themselves with building. M seemed to enjoy construction the most of all, which was absolutely delightful to me. M, who spends so much time in his freaking brain and so little time allowing himself to step outside of the safety of rules and structure. It was good to see him creating something that couldn't possible be symmetrical. It was a lesson in the balance of asymmetry, actually, and I think it was a well-spent 4 hours for him. He kept asking me when we had to go home, reminding me that he had chores and homework to do, and I kept telling him to just relax and enjoy himself for damn once! And then he would go on building and creating and observing how some rocks seemed to fit together even though it seemed impossible that they would...and how some rocks appeared perfectly matched, but provided poor balance. Marveling, as well, about how sometimes structures gain more stability when more weight is stacked on top. All of these such wise ways of looking at the world. Ah, the wisdom of rocks. Ah, the wisdom of play.
Cole spent the majority of his time making up games and building cities in the water. I'm not terribly fond of the creek, but I am sure they have exposed themselves to more horrendous things before...and they were having such fun they did not even want to leave after 4 hours.
Anyway, it was a lovely day. I spent much of my time down by the shores clicky clacking away on my new toy. Taking photos, writing things down, doing some voice recordings, talking to C - the other mama present - and trying to keep the kids from injuring one another. The weather was absolutely perfect to the point of being unremarkable. I watched damselflies and dragonflies dance and mate on the water. Very few people passed through. It was absolutely refreshing and rejuvenating. :) I think it was my favorite field trip so far. I am so glad my guys enjoy such things. It reminds me that I don't have to worry. Sure, they are a bit obsessed with video games and other things that I would prefer they not spend so much time on, but they are also able to spend an afternoon playing with sticks and rocks in the sunshine and enjoying the beauty of those delicate moments that exist for no other purpose than absolute enjoyment. It is in those moments that it becomes abundantly clear that the best lessons are the ones we learn by just living and observing. It is in those moments when I recognize that so much of life is abstract, and takes on whatever form I perceive it to have. It is in those moments when it is clear to me that I have everything I need, and all I need do is relax and enjoy it.
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