Rock Kissing and Other Stories

I am, among other things, a pagan-Episcopalian which means I'm really Lutheran and of Finnish heritage--so I like my religious life to be polite and yet, in secret I have these rituals that I can't disclose in general company but heck, this is a blog and hardly anyone reads it anyway so here goes:

Every year I return to a lake in New Hampshire and kiss a certain rock that lives under water. I swear there's nothing lurid about this. The rock and I are composed of the same things and we are stolid in our affection for this lake, this sky, planet, universe--and my rock and I find each other though I can't really see because my skin and bones know how to find the place.

& I dive down and kiss the rock, my legs kicking madly to hold me at depth.

The lake is nowadays being "taken over" by the wealthy. My little cabin is a hold out among the neuveau trophy lodges of the Marriottsand the Romneys and the like.

"Well," I tell myself, "MItt Romney doesn't have a rock like this. My rock speaks old Finnish and knows the sorcerer poet Vainamoinen personally."

There are, after all, other kinds of wealth.

Hei, Kivi! Sinut poika tulee!

(Hey Rock! Your boy is coming!)

S.K.

Comments

[Wren]

Kiss that rock for me, too, will you Steve?

And enjoy your retreat to the lake this summer. I read your blog just about every day, so I'll miss your musings while you're gone, but I know sweet Connie will pick up the slack for you.

By the way: Rock-kissing, tree-hugging and owl-listening are all grand pastimes in my book. What better way than that to appreciate a beautiful world? :o)

[Georgia Whitney]

I consider myself a Pagan in United Methodist clothing. I also have heavily Quaker and Baha'i leanings. And St. Francis is my favorite saint.

Just got back from visiting my daughter and her family in Oakland. My granddaughter is now three and an absolutely superb human being. Kissing grandchildren, which I did plenty of, is even better than kissing rocks.

We'll miss you!!

[Andrea]

Hardly anyone reads your blog? What am I, chicken liver? Jeeze!

[David Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction)]

"Hei, Kivi! Sinut poika tulee!"

Sorry to correct, but the correct form is:

"Hei, Kivi! Sinun poika tulee!"

"Sinut" is the accusative form (I think :s ... weird declensions in Finnish), and would be used as follows: "Minä näen sinut!", or "I see you!". Rest of it's fine, of course :)

Kivä nähdä tätä blogia... Terveisiä sinulle Suomesta, ja minultakin!

[william Peace]

You are a lucky man to have your rock. Screw the rich and famous, they are too vacuous and materialistic to know the meaning of places that touch one's soul. If they really knew this they would not build the eye sores that are dotted across our nation. Native Americans have known about sacred places for centuries. You might want to read about this history and the connection between people with sacred places. A great book in this regard is Peter Nabokov's Where Lightening Strikes.

[bibliochef]

happy new hampshire-ing