Over Father's Day weekend my son and I traveled north to visit my dad at his home on Lake Erie. We had a great time doing all the normal Father's Day activities like the cookout, relaxing and catching up on family news.
Dry conditions have lowered the level of the Lake and left the largest expanses of shoreline exposed that I have ever seen so one afternoon my son and I went rock hounding along the beach. We found many different kinds of stones; granite, quartz, sandstone and pale limestone all worn smooth by relentless wave action and abrasive sand.
I'm fascinated by nature and the Earth sciences. The beach is an amazing place to witness the raw power of nature and it's beauty.
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So why in the world would I drag fifty pounds of rock home? There is a method to my madness. I've noticed that the weeds like to grow up around my air conditioning unit and to make it easier to keep the area clean I put the smooth limestone between the house and the cement pad after killing the weeds.
Sure I could have gone to a landscaping dealer and paid for some river stone by the pound but it was much more satisfying to spend some time with my son beach combing our way up and down a half mile of shoreline filling a couple buckets. So not only did we get some free landscape materials but every time I mow around this corner of the house the smooth white stones will remind of the fun we had gathering them up.
Where was this? Beautiful rocks
ReplyDeleteHi Sylvia! This is the south shore of Lake Erie between Lorain and Vermillion. Last summer the water level was way down and made beach combing possible. Normally there is not much beach showing. The lake shore is very dynamic. Storms will pull the sand out then put it all back. The Great Lakes are a unique treasure for sure.
DeletePut those back! Just kidding. I live close to Port Clinton, and while I find no quartz or anything terribly unique yet...there are still things to be found if you are persistent.
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