In Plain Sight

Efigy

 This large flat topped  boulder is three feet wide, and just over 5 feet long,  For over 50 years it has served us as a comfortable place to recline and watch the night skies. It faces the summer solstice.  The boulder is unique in that is the only one along the lakeshore that has the appearance of being shaped and smoothed. 

On the property there is also a turtle effigy, a split rock  in which has been placed  pieces quartz, and a pile of rocks. 

Red Quartz in Stone Wall

There is a long stretch of wall, which has purposeful designs featuring fairly large pieces of quartz...it would take a half-bushel basket to hold this red one.

Stone wall art

Exploring the back side of a stone wall. It begins here, at the edge of a swampy area and extends over 400 feet. .

This boulder is as large as a  Volkswagon Bug automobile. I was surprised by the row of holes drilled along its length. 

Symmetrical design in the wall. 

Quartz tucked in a niche. 

Quartz

A Unique Stone Pile

Where a stone wall might normally be located,  along a gravel road, there was  instead, a series of "stand alone" rock piles, spaced in a line, about 10 feet apart. My first thought was that the wall builder had planned to go back and fill in the spaces between each of the piles, but upon a closer look, each pile was unique and complete in itself.   The one shown here is especially interesting. The flat stone on the left must have been carried from a rock outcrop located about 1/4 of a mile to the east. Small white stones are SET  under the flat stone, and a large loaf like stone is PLACED  on top,  providing  visual balance to the remainder of the construction.  The round rocks climbing up the "back" on the right are not fitted together, but arranged so that they touch one another on  as small a surface as possible, yet remain stable. 

Ceremonial Arrangement in an Old Stone Wall

A curious arrangement in a wall near my mailbox. When I posted this on a Facebook Group page, someone posted an identical arrangement they had photographed in Rhode Island; so this is a design to be repeated, a Motif, which had shared, cultural significance.

The quartz rock has a rose color within it, and can easily be pickup up out of the niche it is set in.

A Series of Rock Piles Oct 14 2017

This is series of unique rock piles running along a ridge in a northerly direction , regularly spaced so that as you walk you can anticipate where the next pile will be.  They are spread out over almost 3/4's of a mile.  I expect if I had more time and a few less years, I could follow them for several more miles.  It appears that they have been knocked about over the years, and are buried in woodland debris. They may not be in the exact order.

Two Years Later

Today I took a longer walk through the area which I photographed two years ago. It was a bit disappointing to discover some of the rock piles or features had been run over and destroyed. Perhaps my pink ribbons had blown away. Bits of evidence showed otherwise, however.

Photo taken August 14, 2017. The beautiful bird effigy is covered over with branches cut from the tops of downed trees.
There is too much for me to clear.  But this wasn't the sad part. The sad part was finding some of the features have been totally destroyed.  The circles with quartz in the center are impossible to find under the brush.
I had been more hopeful.