Being in Balance

It had been a good day of exploration along the river. I had discovered a whole new area of pools and slabs of exposed rock. Polished smooth by the glaciers and eons of springmelt scourings. The pink granite was still holding the heat of the day even though the sun has disappeared behind the shoulder of the mountain which was a looming shadow now.

I had found many fabulous "egg" stones and had been collecting them all day. The bucket was very heavy now and quite a load to swing up and over the cliffy areas as I tried to make my way back upstream. But then I found this perfect oval puddle. And the stones just seemed to want to be in this little reflecting pool for one last homage to their source before I took them home to my studio.

It took longer than I had hoped to arrange them all. Many did not want to cooperate and the inside of the puddle was deceptively slick with algae, so getting everyone to stand still was quite a challenge! By the time all the stones were in position, the light was less than optimal, but still, the photos had to be taken. I was not going to be bringing all these heavy stone back down here again!

It was fun to angle around and see how the different patterns of the reflected trees played with the spaces between the sitting stones. The whole stillness of this sculpture was in sharp contrast to the rushing, bubbling constantly moving stream that was right next to the puddle. It was not lost on me that this movement is what created the egg stones in the first place... so movement births into stillness... there is a Zen Koan in here somewhere.