Sunday, September 7, 2008

Rock Flippin' 101

The first thing my family discovered, as neophyte participants in the second annual International Rock Flipping Day, is that we have a lot to learn about flipping rocks.

After all, there are so many choices.



Despite my son's tenacious efforts, some rocks resist flipping,



and many are too small to hide big secrets.



These and other frustrations today led my 13-year-old to bemoan that she'd have more fun if we could flip a rock star.



But our spirits were buoyed when we came upon a rock-related mystery on our trail--



Why did someone capture several pounds of small white stones and corrall them in the woods?

And at last we found a rock that was just right for the flipping tastes and talents of a nine-year-old boy.



What did we find under our long-sought, perfect flipping rock?



Our afternoon's search yielded one spider's web, innumerable pill bugs, decaying grass, general muckiness, and one sincere "Wow" from a "been there, done that" fourth grader. No epiphanies, but not bad for a bunch of beginners.

We'll be polishing our flippin' skills to improve our performance for the third annual celebration in 2009. Already, we've learned one important lesson: You never know what you'll find under a rock.

7 comments:

Island Bookworm said...

Ah, if only books could be found under rocks... ;)

pohanginapete said...

Well done — I like the humour :^)

That second photo sums up the thinking of nine-year olds (plus or minus a few years) — the bigger it is, the more likely it is to shelter marvellous creatures.

Deborah Godin said...

Really enjoyed this! I've come to one conclusion, from my own efforts and from reading others - there are a lot of pillbugs in the world.

Dave Coulter said...

Looks like you-all had fun. Well done! :)

Jen said...

I'm beginning to think that we are somehow freaks here in Northern Virginia--We flipped several dozen rocks and nary a pillbug was found! I loved your documentation of the kids' help. Next year I'll try that approach as well. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Dog_geek said...

Nice post - fun to read. It looks like you had quite a few rock flipping options available, and some good helpers. Did you ever solve the mystery of the corralled rocks on the trail?

pinenut said...

Hi Sylvia, Pete, Deborah, Dave, Jen, and Dog Geek,

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks also for participating in Rock Flipping Day and sharing your observations on your blogs. I'm glad to learn about--or revisit--all of them.

I wonder if there's a good book about pillbugs. . . .