Thursday, Michelle came home for a brief visit in the middle of the day. She brought a package I’ve been eagerly awaiting for a long time. Inside: a rock.
I have a Canadian friend with whom I’ve corresponded for years. We “met” through a mutual interest in boat building. He’s an adventurous sort, with an artistic bent. A while ago he began teaching himself stone carving, and has become quite good in a short amount of time. We have talked on and off about him carving something into one of the many erratics, large boulders left by the glaciers that created Lynn Canal, that decorate our property like standing stones.
One day, while crossing our home-built stone hearth, I knocked one of the corner stones loose. That somehow led to a rather quixotic plan.
We hauled the rock out to the car when we packed up Aly’s gear to take her to college. While passing through Canada, we took it to a Post Office and mailed it to my friend in Alberta. Some time later, I emailed him a design I’d drawn, a spray of devil’s club, and he carved it into the stone. Then, he mailed it back.
The newly carved hearth stone in place. The cement has yet to dry (Photo: Mark Zeiger).
