Even when I was a little girl I was interested in how the earth was formed. I liked to look at the mountains and the cliffs and all the little oddities in the earth's landscape and see stories as we were driving somewhere in the car.
So, when I got to Brigham Young University I decided to take an introductory geology course. I'm sure there were a lot of interesting things I learned including the correct names for formations like mesas, arroyos, deltas, etc. But the only thing I really internalized was the term used to identify the process of rocks becoming smooth in a river bed. I could have sworn it was "salting", and that's what I have remembered all these years. Like all those little pieces of rock "salting" the river as they were washed clean of sediment. But try as I might, even Googling that term, I have not found any information using that particular term. Who knows? I may have remembered incorrectly. Or maybe it was "silting" or something else that I got confused with.
Anyway, what brought me to that was the ongoing battle I have with weeds in the decorative rock around our yard. I deliberately chose river rock as landscape material because the rock we had at the Secrest Court house was jagged and sharp. I like the way river rock looks all smooth with an overall hue of beige and cream. But in the last few weeks when the round up of unwanted weeds has been intense, and I have relentlessly overturned rocks that had little feelers of green peeping out, I began to notice that each rock is almost like a fingerprint--they each are entirely different from each other.
Forget the beige color, too. They vary all the way from stark white, to rose, to variegated grey and brown. They are not all round either. Some are flat, misshappen, or almost square. I have really enjoyed looking at their differences, where once they looked all the same. And that's when the term "salting" popped up in my mind again. I began to imagine little vignettes about some of the rocks careening down a rough and tumble river and getting their edges worn off. It helped take the tedium out of spraying the weeds!
Now, I look at the landscape rock around the yard and see it in an entirely different light. Amazing how the individual rocks are still fulfilling the measure of their creation. Where once they were the ground-bed and underpinnings of the earth, now they are a handsome accompaniment to the flowers and trees.
Guess it just goes to show, we all take on different roles during our existence. Sometimes it's the wrestle getting an education, the hard physical work of family responsibility, sometimes it's the soul- refining experiences we would never choose to have, but do, and sometimes it's just being part of the landscape.
Pass the "salt", please...
