got an idea for my camp fire, wadda ya think?

[Toklat1]

I have a fire pit in front of my house that is surrounded by river rocks from Alaska, Montana & Idaho. When I moved back to Texas from Alaska, I actually mailed a box full to myself. Thought it kind of nuts but now I don't feel so bad. They came out of the Little Susitna river that I spend a lot of time at!  

[Whip]

I've been bringing rocks home from my trips for many years.  I keep mine in the landscaping around the front entries to my home and shop as momentos of special times and places.  Far better than a trinket from a tourist trap.

I always felt a little odd for doing it - now thanks to everyone here I find out I am normal!

[knife river]

One of the best things about flintknapping is gathering the rocks.  It's another kind of hunting and I enjoy it about the same.  There's a couple tons of rock in my garage, all sorted in 5 gallon buckets, from ten or twelve states.  Sometimes late at night I sit down between a few heavy buckets and look through fifteen or twenty gallons of memories.  The crotch-deep snow in the Bighorns, the great gray owl in Montana, and the hard, last goodbye to a dying friend.  The perfume of junipers in the high country, sunflowers to the horizon in North Dakota, and a gator sliding into tea-dark water in north Florida.  Those buckets are full and heavy with beautiful rocks and more.  It's the "more" that's special.

[Killdeer]

[Bowspirit]

Powerful medecine in that idea, Ken...and that picture, Killie...

[adkmountainken]

Chris,
     clik on the picture, its a video, very nice Killy i can allmost smell the smoke and feel the heat, thanks for sharing.

[varmint]

Haven't brought any rocks back from hunting trips,but fishing trips is another story.The Wife's flower beds are adorned with various sized river rocks from all of our fly fishing trips.They are from fist sized all the way up to "too large to carry on my own" size.

[ChuckC]

Thanks Killie. I am in Norway, away from home... again.  That really made me smile.  Funny how a simple camp fire can make nearly everything right.

While in Japan a few years ago, I had something happen that I thought was something else.  On a Sunday, my day of rest, I took a walk thru (I believe the town was Tokushima.)  

At the edge of town, and below and just to the side of my hotel, maybe 100 yards away, was a hill.  Formerly it held a castle and was built up as a reinforced battlement.  Since more time than I have been around the castle was destroyed and the hill reverted to wild.  The person at the desk of the hotel told me of wild dogs that lived up there.

This Sunday morning, I looked out of my window and saw two dogs, likely the "wild dogs" in a large clearing on the hill so I thought I would take a walk to include the perimeter of the hill.  

I got maybe half way around and heard a squeeky whiny noise ahead.  I snuck in and found....  a small light colored puppy, maybe 6 weeks old, had rolled off the hill.  I squatted and looked at it, wondering what to do.  Something made me turn, and just 50 yards away, up a severe drop off from the hill, was momma dog, just watching.  I took that as a cue and got up and walked away, about 25 yards and quietly hid behind a tree.   Momma dog came down and grabbed her puppy and back up the hill she went.   I was happy, momma dog was happy, I am betting puppy dog was happy.  

I walked no more than 50 more yards and a baseball sized rock rolled down the hill, almost to my feet.  I am fairly certain it is a chunk of some sort of petrified wood. Was it a gift ? You can bet I have it at home now.  

ChuckC

[adkmountainken]

Chuck,
      it a LOOOOONG while but i have come to accept things like that ARE DEFINITLY NOT coencidence. once you can look past what %99 of people say is coencidence you will discover beauty, magic and a whole new world, the old ways, the way it once was.

[702plmo]

I have a rock ring around a cherry tree in my back yard.   The rock ring is made from rocks I have picked up from hunting trips.   The past couple of years I have had my son collect the rocks and place them around the tree for his special memories.    
   The cherry tree sits next to our archery range.

[Killdeer]

Stones, earth, wood, fire, the water breathes out from the wood as fragrant steam and smoke. The years of stored sunlight are released and their myriad stories warm our bodies and hearts. The beginning and the end of time merge and form a great circle, and we are included. Watch the glow move from place to place in the coals. We move through our lives, geese migrate following the winds of God's wave, water moves through the earth, sky and us, rocks move throughout the world.

 

How can people throw styrofoam plates into such magic?
Killdeer  

[Lslite]

Miss Killdeer,once again you bring a tear to my eye and the longing for wild places to my heart.I also have always caried home firering stones from the areas I've hunted.When I place a hand on their blackend surface,it brings the scent of unfamilar woodsmoke,the conversation of friends,and the sounds of faraway nights.This is a much needed topic as we sit out the summer heat and long for the first hint of fall.

[adkmountainken]

she does have a way with words and a camera don't she!!

[Whip]

It's nice to finally share a campfire with you Killdeer  

[adkmountainken]

B.Glass,
        i hear ya on the sea shells as i just brought some back from Maine. got a couple nice ones to burn sage in.

[ethan]

I have several rocks I have picked up on hunting/fishing/hiking trips.  From the Blue Ridge mts in Virginia, to the scrub brush of South Texas, to Kodiak Island.  Most people kind of look at me like...."why".... when they ask about them.  Glad to see I'm not alone!