Something we have a lot of around campus is river rock. It is used extensively in landscaping where shrubs, grass, and other greenery are not used. The rocks give these areas a clean, finished look and they are an endless source of creative inspiration for young and old alike. I've posted stacked rocks here before and, in fact, discovered who it was amongst our students building the Andy Goldworthy inspirations. Of course, that was the day the batteries in my camera died and now it's summer and I haven't seen him around lately.
During the summer, the campus hosts many school age activities. We have our Summer Music at Stanislaus and athletics has their various sporting events. This past week a creative writing daycamp was held on campus and several school age youngsters participated. It did not take long for one youngster to discover the potential of the rocks and find his own inspiration. I was lucky enough to see him when he first started stacking rocks. No picture of course but I immediately got the idea that this would continue throughout the week and indeed it did.
First day. An extended family of rocks.
Second day. Rock cross and leaf.
Third day. Extended rock cross and leaves.
Fourth and final day. A medicine wheel of rocks.
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Today is another free Friday for me. I was out the door at 9:30 to pick up Elaine for coffee. Her car is on the fritz and friends are helping her out until the darn thing gets fixed. We stopped at Starbucks and then headed up to Modesto so she could take care of some business. Since we were so close to Borders, we went there next.
I like the Borders in Modesto because it is much bigger than the one here in town. We have a sort of Baby Borders. My objective was to find the current issue of Rosebud, a literary quarterly I sometimes like to pick up. I can usually find it at the Modesto store. I actually did find the current issue and while waiting for E to find her objective, I sat down in the cafe and perused the issue.
This time around, I wasn't impressed. From the cover to the last page, it just did not strike the right notes for me. Writing, poetry, art, is so taste driven that there is no point in subscribing when you don't know from month to month if there is anything that will appeal. The quality was as high as ever; it just wasn't my thing this time around.
So - no Rosebud - BUT - I did come away with three books, all outside on the clearance rack, one of which had been on my Good Reads list. After a trip to Michael's to pick up another needle punch kit and a storage box for my punch tools and projects, I headed home. Below are pictures of some of my treasures.
The books are "The Quilter's Kitchen", "How Starbucks Saved My Life", and a collection of short stories entitled "Jesus Out to Sea". All in all, it has been a lovely day. I'm going to take myself to my couch now, stretch out and read a good book.
This cheeky little squirrel was at the main steps of the Portland Rose Garden. He knows where to get a fast meal. He's so fat and tame. I hope the garden doesn't have any feral cats. This not so little guy would be toast.
