Rock Wall Inventory

Tomorrow, we have a crew coming to begin installation of the Wood Stove. We are so excited. Pending weather, it should take about 2 days.

In the meantime, I have taken pictures of the Rock Wall and the 3 of us are constructing a "map" to show the Stories of the Rocks. Our Rock Wall is indeed a "Story Wall". Stories include:

• Red Rocks from Nephew Bransen and Leigh's land around their new Home in Oklahoma City
• Arrowhead shaped Rock from Mark Grinde (Mark called from a Rummage Sale last Spring, letting us know the Folks were selling their Collections of Rocks; we jumped in the car and headed out)
• Crystals (Amethyst, Citrine, Rhodocrosite, Quartz, Rose Quartz, Garnets, Selenite)
• Rocks from my Family's Vacations in the 1950s and 60s (including West Coast, Colorado, south Missouri; we were always gathering rocks; considering how loaded we were with family and camping gear, we did not have room for much; over the years, my parents gave the rocks to my brother when they had no further use for them, and my brother gave them to me when we moved here)
• Pebbles from Children (Great Nephews Pearce and Adam; Great Nieces Ericka and Whitley Jo who was 2)
• Shells gathered by my Father from South Padre Island (Texas)
• Geodes from my Father (Dad loved to gather Geodes; stories of his Adventures gathering Geodes while Fishing are the stuff of Legend)
• 2 Rocks from my Childhood Home (Mother gave them to me Summer 2008; she just picked them up and said: "These are for your Rock Wall"; my Mother has always loved and freely given flowers; I had Richard set the Stones so that they will hold a "bud vase" for Flowers)
• Shells and Coral from Richard's Florida excursion in the early 1980s
• Rock from the area of the Villages of my Grandparents Kazimir and Dragica (Budiselic') Blaskovic' in Croatia (I picked this up Summer 2002)
• Concretion from the Cannonball River in South Central North Dakota (this Rock has a "round hole" in it, which originally had a round Rock Ball in it; we lost the ball in the Red River Valley Flood of 1997; it was accidentally discarded and sits somewhere in the Land Fill Northwest of Grand Forks)
• Handmade Brick from the Homestead of Abel and Mandana Stukey 1843, the site of which is about 7 miles from here (the Stukey's were Richard's Great Grandparents)
• Rock from Cousin Dwight and Judy Hart (site of the House and Farm where my Grandmother Lottie Hart Brenz grew up in Northeastern Adair County; I wonder if when I gathered this Rock this Fall that it sat at the precise location that my Grandmother's Piano sat in 1909, the year she graduated from Music Conservatory)
• Rocks which honor the Mayflower heritage of Richard and Melanie (Rock from general area in England where the Mayflower left in 1620; Rocks from Cape Cod which would be the general area where the Mayflower landed)
• Rocks from Melanie's Alaska adventures
• Rock from Matt and Sherry Farrell's farm in western Adair County
• Rock from the Farm where Richard grew up and his Brother and Nephew with their Families still live
• Talking Stone that Glinda used in classes and gatherings on the Upper Plains
• Marble from John Barton Crawford (Richard's Dad)
• Rock from Marcia Melberg's Garden (Marcia was our neighbor in North Dakota for many years; she was a Gardener Extraordinaire and our "Gardening Mentor")
• Rocks from the Collection of Ken and Tobey Baker, who were President and 1st Lady of the University of North Dakota (the Bakers gave many of their Rocks to us when they moved to Ohio)
• Piece of cement from the House of my Aunt Louise, Uncle Russell, and Cousin Russell Wells (this Farm was quite an inspiration to me as a child; the House, like so many old Farm Houses, is now in disrepair)
• Rock from "Wag" and Mrs. Wagner (Elderly Neighbors who lived across the street from us when I was growing up; they were always gathering Rocks)
• Marble from the Collection of my Uncle Wayne Bryson
• Rock from Rachel, Joe and Kathy Long's Farm in Indiana
• Rocks from the Chariton River near the Site of Yarrow (which is where Richard's Father John Barton Crawford grew up; his Father was a Blacksmith at the Yarrow Mill, and my Grandfather Fred Albert Brenz loved to fish; I would suspect that we have considerable Family History woven into that area)
• Missouri River Rock near Columbia from Joni Braman and Arnie Fagan
• Penguin Rock which Richard picked up at Hallet Station, in the Antarctic in 1972-73 (the Rock would have been used as nest for an Adelie Penguin; close examination shows it to be volcanic)
• Rocks from coastal Washington given by Sarah Saltmarsh
• "Fishhead Rock" (resembles "Fish Head" and is lovely to touch and feel)
• Shell from the Red Sea (I bought this from a Vendor when I was on one of my trips to Egypt in the late 1980s; this section of the Wall resonates with themes of the "Sea")
• Rocks from Brad and Jane Whitaker Farm
• Cut Rock from the collection of Bob Scott's Father (Bob and Connie were our next door neighbors in Grand Forks during the flood time)
• Rock from St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick, Missouri (in the mid 1950s, Dad was a Stone Mason on this Church which was a replica of the St. Patrick's Church in Donegal, Ireland; Dad would often describe this Church as the project of which he was most proud)
• Rock with hole from Betty and Bradley Chrisman (Betty is Richard's Cousin; the site of the Rock is Novinger, where again a considerable amount of our family history is woven and on both sides)
• Agate (which reminds us of the Agates we picked up in northern Minnesota, where we were camp counselors at Camp Foley, summer 1967)
• Rock from the Farm of Great Aunt Lula Myers Hart and Great Uncle Jesse Hart (given by Carolyn and Bob Lindquist; Aunt Lula took care of my brother and me when we were growing up)
• Rock rubble from the site of Crazy Horse Statue in southwestern South Dakota (under construction) (given by Dorreen Yellow Bird)
• Rock from Ft. Berthold Reservation (given by Dorreen Yellow Bird)
• Rock from Sarah, Arnell, and Wynette Cummins' Farm near Halma, Minnesota
• "Worry Stone" given to me by Ardyce Gilbert in the mid 70s while I was a Graduate Student at Iowa State University (instructions were to rub it any time I experienced a worry; the Rock would hold the worry and it would disipate; it's time to give it up to another purpose)
• Rock from the Southern Shores of Lake of the Woods (gathered on another 1 of my wonderful adventures with Dorreen Yellow Bird; she was always taking me somewhere, it seemed)
• Rock from Wren Song Farm, established by Ethan and Sarah Hughes just about the same time that we moved in too
• Rock from high in the Colorado Rockies, given by a Friend (what wonderful views those amazing Mountains afford)
• Rock from the entrance to Fort Madison Cemetery, where the line of my Female Ancestors will all be buried back to my Great Great Grandmother Catherine Powell South
• Rock which I picked up on the way to the Baptist Home for the Aged outside Ironton, Missouri where I visited Great Aunt Lula (Myers) Hart likely in the late 1960s (Aunt Lu was the 1st known Elder in my Life; she had all of 2nd Grade Education and whole Public Libraries could not approach what she knew; she was 1 of the wisest I have ever known; Aunt Lu lived until she was 98 and died in 1982; I should have listened more)
• Rock from our 15 Acres in Southwestern Adair County (Richard purchased this little Acreage as Tax Land on the Courthouse Steps when he was 11 years old; word has it that the $110 he used to pay for it came from the sale of 2 Hogs)
• Many Rocks assumed to be of local Missouri origin from the collection of Vernel Gerhold
• Many Rocks from North Dakota and Minnesota Farm Fields deposited by Glaciers about 20,000 years ago (we 3 C's carried them down by North American Van Lines in May 2007)

I am sure I forgot something. We will be adding more over time. Plus, the Rocks would have their own Stories to tell too. Maybe they should have their