jen simon discovers a rock village

This just in from Jen Simon:

A recent and welcome addition to the growing body of public artwork in the valley is as plain as it is unexpected. On your next visit to the Wilson Boat Ramp, be on the lookout for the rocks.

As you approach, they look like cairns. First you wonder: why so many? Then you realize: these are no simple trail markers. Someone artfully balanced dozens upon dozens of river rocks to create elegant figures. Together they look like a village of ancestral elders now governing all of our river proceedings. Admittedly, we wanted to touch all of them to determine exactly how they held together. Instead, we opted to believe in exactly what we saw. We left the mystery intact.

They remind me of the beginning of 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez where the gypsy comes dragging his magnet through the small town of Macondo and the pots and pans and nails and screws all begin to follow him. “Things have a life of their own,” the gypsy proclaims. “It’s simply a matter of waking up their souls.”

Many thanks to the unnamed public artist who awakened these souls.

(Jen is a consultant with Center of Wonder.)