"A Somewhat Interesting Oddity..."

In the midst of this down time and injury, I find myself ruminating, pondering and in a mindset recalling I've had more than a few comments like this over the years... They usually speak to another's impressions of these little Summit Stones and assumptions about my intentions in placing them...

So... I find myself today, writing here, as in a journal I guess, and hopefully this will enlighten my day and lift my mood...

As for being 'somewhat interesting'... Well maybe, just maybe, if my efforts have gleaned even a little of your attention, invited a small turn of a smile on your face, some tiny bit of wonder to your adventure day, then its all good... If someone is curious enough to make a comment of this sort, I guess it affirms that people will make what they will of such an experience.

An 'oddity' can be defined as something reflecting a strangeness, an unusual event, something puzzling, also a 'fantastic object', even 'something wonderful'. So I'll consider this a small appreciation of sorts... Being an 'oddity' can also represent something non-conformist. Absolutely! To be any kind of adventurer, is to be an individual. So to be referred to as such, seems to reflect a little of my simple intentions after having placed well over a thousand out there now.

As Lewis wrote: "That's the area in which climbing becomes an art, because it allows for individual expression". This Summit Stone journey has been that and more...

What we 'see' in nature and our adventure experiences, is very often odd and unusual; yet these same things often hold a special interest for us. Efforts, like art, really are reflected in the 'eye of the beholder'...

When I think of the strange rock formations I've seen, the odd knotty krumholtz trees encountered, the results of how wind and waves act upon secluded beaches - I can appreciate such peculiarities... I believe, as Patterson said: "The whole country is filled with adventures... there is also adventure in the visual landscape... There is always something familiar, but if it looks too familiar, you just have to look a little farther for the oddity".

Do I often question my naive artistic abilities, have I at times doubted my intentions, worried that my actions may be intrusive to anothers experience in the wild lands, and have there been challenges within all the time and effort required to undertake this journey... Most certainly!

But what adventure does not hold such challenges...

And in more recent years, I have also had more opportunity to muse as well that while being an oddity, there too have been many acknowledgements on behalf of other 'finders' of these gifts... In how for many, these Summit Stones, and the Adventure Muse they were placed in, have become a touch stone of sorts, even invited a bit of mystery to their day, and for a moment put a small smile upon their face...

Thus being referred to in this way may just grow on me...

DSD