Sunday, October 20, 2013

Stones Tell Tales At Crescent Beach

SNIPPETS of writings merging the past and present are etched in stones and scattered alongside the pathways at Crescent Beach in South Surrey. I learned there are 33 memory stones marked with thoughts gathered by artist Tina Farmilo.

Thirteen stones are arranged in a circle like pages torn from a diary by a grassy knoll. I see people meditating there sometimes amid the fragmented stories of days gone by. Aboriginal peoples, pioneers and families reach out as if from a dream or a poem. Is not "leaf shaker's moon" a lovely way to convey winter is coming?


Guided by the seasons, most words express respect for the weathered land and the sea that influenced their everyday lives.

I enjoyed reading the notes on stones amid the thousands of timeless, wordless rocks also in the area. These strong silent types laze around all day without having a single thing to say.

As an afterthought, inspired by a comment from Jen of Muddy Boot Dreams, I include a picture of another one of the 33 stones that speaks for itself at Crescent Beach. It says, “ … years of summer children running barefoot free in the dusty roads ‘til dusk and the horn of the night train calls them home.”

I suspect an inward search can unearth similar wonder at any age ... even when trains are less melodic, and too frequent, and dusty roads are paved and cracked. In early childhood each new moment becomes a piece of forever inscribed into memories that shape future perspectives.

This stone, capped by a pair of lost gloves, speaks for a girl who in 1929 was excited about her stay at a local camp. “Oh boy,” she said, “we get two plates of all if we want. My little brother got three helpings and we are in the water all day and there’s bonfires on the beach at night and I like this better than Christmas.”

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms