Ringing Rocks
This is how ridiculous it gets: you go to Home Depot and buy two of the cheapest hammers they have… $6.99 each. Then you drive along a road that winds through rows of cornfields until it ends at a patch of forest. Cars line the road on either side. There are no instructions, no directions… just a well-worn trail leading, ominously, into the trees. You clutch your crummy little hammer and walk into the woods like some crazed character from a B-grade horror film.
The trail winds deeper, and then, suddenly, a sound emerges from the forest. It is delicate and metallic, almost like wind chimes. It grows louder and more frequent until you round a corner, and there it is: a family to your right, some free-range teens to your left, an old man taking photographs, and the sound of dozens of bell-like chimes ringing through the air. A musical wonderland.
Over a ridge lies a landscape of stones, maybe two hundred by two hundred feet, as if a sea of stone had been dropped right in the middle of the forest. It's out of place, strange, and mysterious.
Dozens of people wander clumsily across the huge rock pile, each with a hammer in hand, tapping stones at random. Following suit, you look down and choose a random stone. Tap it. It sings… a clear, ringing note, as if it had been waiting to be found.
What? Why? How?
These are all natural questions. But none of them matter. What matters is that you try another stone. It rings in a completely different tone. Another stone, another beautifully distinct note. And so the next hour passes: you stumble across the stones, carefully choosing, tapping, and listening. It is a ridiculous act. And yet, it is entirely necessary.
Of course, there is science behind this, and this place was not man-made. But we are not here for science. We are here to hit rocks with a $6.99 hammer and giggle like schoolchildren at the impossible sounds they emit.
As dozens of chimes swirled through the forest, I cannot help but wonder who discovered this place first, who struck the stones and ran to tell everyone? But that, perhaps, is exactly the point of it all. We wander through the world, find a mystery, find beauty, and share it. We find each other. We ring and sing… not for fame, not for recognition, not for the history books, but because it must be done.
Stumbling into beauty is a journey that demands sharing. This is how life works. What you share is a gift. And sometimes, accessing that gift will only cost you $6.99 at Home Depot.
As always, thank you for reading. My hope is that you get a little insight into what makes me tick and how I am navigating this journey of art and life. Until next time!
- Michael
*Cheap hammers are getting harder to find… but you know what is easy to find? Yep, you guessed it, Michaeltsmith.com. Or if you are into the social thing, my instagram is _michaeltsmith.
P.S. Hitting that like button is almost as satisfying as hitting a rock in the middle of a forest in Pennsylvania… almost.
New to me! How cool is that place?!
I’ve never heard of this place, I’d like to go!