In my early years as a father, once in a great while my children would require a little guidance in personal responsibility and the accepted behavior among siblings. Having cleared and landscaped our property in Colorado, I had reserved a small pile of the famed Colorado Rocky Mountains. Perhaps, the pile contained two wheel barrow loads of small stones neatly piled to the side of our outbuilding. When warranted, which was a regular basis with their age group and gender, it would be their task to move the rocks to a new location. If the problem persisted at the completion of the task, they would then return the rocks to their original spot. With today standards, perhaps it would be judged as cruel and mistreatment, but it was effective. Today, as adults, they laugh about the rock pile and how often they had the opportunity to re-bond as family members while moving rocks. It was only recently that I learned that one of my children uses this model of of behavioral science with their own children.
I love rocks, they are such a useful item. You can build anything out of them, they last forever. I love looking at the rock formations that mother nature has carved throughout the world, some of the most scenic rock formations are in our United States. Over the years, I have built a great number of rock fences, flower beds, rock gardens, and sidewalks. However, it was only recently that I relived my children's childhood and had a few days on the "rock pile". I am now well disciplined and have my head right with the world.
It all commenced with the mutual agreement with my wife that we would give our landscaping a "new look" and at the same time cut back on the size of some of our flower beds. This involved the movement of about ten tons of armour rock from our existing flower beds. We dug up rocks, strained on a few to move them, and for those that were to large to move by hand, we reverted to towing them with our reliable snow plow truck to the rock storage area. Most people when moving and stacking rocks throw them into a large pile. As a hint, if you ever intend to use them again you should grade them by size.
This Is The Main Storage Area, Pile One And Two. This Site Contains Those Rocks In The Large And Medium Grade Size Rocks.
This Site Is Pile Number Three And Contains Medium To Small Rocks. Pile Number Four Is Not Pictured, They Have Been Transported To the "Hole In The Wall" For A Future Landscaping Project.
For The Past Ten Years, This Has Been The Location For All Of These Rocks. You Do Not See Those Rocks In The Columbine And Lupine Bed. They Have To Stay To Preserve The Flowers.
Construction Of The New Flower Beds Have Commenced. Since This Picture Was Taken, This Phase Has been Completed. Weather Permitting, Final Construction Should Be Completed By Wednesday.
During the cold months of this winter, I will most likely develop a concept on what I am going to do with all my rocks and construction will commence in the Spring of 2009. I look forward to that, but yet this year, I still have one more large rock garden to build, so once again, I will move the rocks and dig them back into the earth from hence they were given birth. I am so disciplined.
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