Chatter and Chitter were about 5 years old when they first became enamored with rocks. After a friend gave them a small blue rock it was all downhill from there their great love affair with rocks had been ignited. Every time they lost the little blue rock the whole house had to be turned upside down until it was found.
The blue rock the girls were given was actually glass. The girls began collecting little glass stones, marbles, and polished rocks. Their collection of store bought beauties naturally led to the best rocks of all—-ones that are real and free.
Chitter and Chatter began collecting rocks on trips, from the creek, and even from the driveway. Their collection enlarged so fast I ruled it be banished from under the beds and moved to the porch.
In 4th grade the girls had a new teacher, Mrs. Casey, who was a rock lover from way down in Louisiana. She encouraged the girls to bring in rocks they found and she would help classify them. Mrs. Casey also took the girls gem mining on her own free time. Needless to say this increased the amount of rocks on my front porch ten fold.
At one time the joke of the family was if you want to get the girls a gift just get a bag full of gravel from your driveway. Seriously, they would have been thrilled.
For this week’s Pickin’ & Grinnin’ In The Kitchen Spot I have a different kind of rock for you Rock of Ages.
Not long after the girls had been given the little blue glass rock, they took it to church and showed it to all the kids. One little boy remarked “If you have rocks like that in your creek can I come and get some?”
Hope you enjoyed the old hymn.
Tipper
I, too, love rocks!! Hard, jagged, flinty, mica-filled rocks, river smooth rocks, etc., When we traveled out west I would bring a rock or two as souvenirs. When bags were xrayed, the attendant said : Is that rocks?” Yep, I replied. He just sighed and sent my bag on its way!
Thank you for that rock-story. My two boys were the same. Their backpacks were always full of rocks, which had to be collected in their rooms.
Thank you for that hymn: Rock of Ages. I am going to learn to play it, but unfortunately I am the only musician and singer here around. So I am going to sing along with your video. :o) Eva from Germany
this is so true, no wonder we spent about 30-45 minutes sitting in the creek!
Wonderful, wonderful song, they did a great job. I love rocks, too. I have a special “rock” that is really mostly concrete, but is a piece of the Berlin Wall, shortly after it came down. I have a heart shaped rock my son gave me. I have dozens of pieces of obsidian, which the kids and I love to hunt for around our property.
I have a bunch of rock collectors here too! Tiny treasures are the best 🙂 Great song choice.
Tipper, this hymn was so wonderful! I really enjoyed listening….and about the rock collectin: my daughter was an avid collector when she was small, and now so is my grandson. It’s hard to know what to do with all the rocks! 🙂 I am planning to make stepping stones and imprint my grandson’s fottprints in them, and also embed rocks and marbles and seashells (another passion of his). I was inspired to do this by an outdoor bar-b-que grill my aunt had back in Alabama, which was made of cement, and embedded in it were dozens of marbles! It was very cool to all of us children when we could visit her!
I really enjoyed that hymn. Jesus is my Rock. I also collect rocks. Seems like it is the thing to do. I usually bring a rock back from our vacations in our State parks. I just love vacationing in the State parks, expecially in the mountains of WV. We put the big ones around our fish pond. The only bad thing about that is I don’t mark them or keep record of where the rocks came from. We like to look for fossil rocks too. My grandson and one of my granddaughters liked collecting rocks when they were younger and still find rocks interesting. Isn’t it great how the little things in life give us enjoyment! I really like your blog. My sister, Janet, author of Writing in the Blackberry Patch, asked me to go to your blog. I’m glad she did – I do like it. I am very new at blogging, just beginning. I only have two posts but am hoping to get inspired with interesting subjects to post about. There are a lot of things I don’t know yet – like how to get the time right. It is now 10:38 am.
Sounds like Chitter and Chatter are going to be geologists. (I love how you call them Chitter and Chatter.) My girls love to collect rocks too.
I was a real rock hound, growing up in the Southwest Virginia hills. My collection eventually had to be moved from my room because of size. I guess that’s where my daughter got her love of rocks. We call her a raven, because any shiny little bauble catches her eye, and she has to bring it back to our ‘nest’!
What a beautiful hymn. My son was the rock collector in our family. I learned to always check the pockets of his pants when I did laundry, as inevitably they were full of rocks. 😉
I collect hearts so if a rock is in the shape of a heart then I do. But my youngest daughter collected rocks since she was very small, around 3 I think. When we moved we thought our truck was going to be weighted down with the front wheels lifted off the ground because she had such a huge collection. They are banned to the garage now because she is finishing up college. I wonder if she will even notice if I gave them away. Probably.
When we moved (nine years ago), I packed my rocks in boxes and labeled them books. Now I do feel a tiny bit guilty about that, ’cause it was a lie, but believe you me, there was no way those rocks would have made the move otherwise!
This summer my granny-in-law was moving to an apartment, and asked if I wanted the rocks out of her yard.
Later she said she’d never seen me move so fast, but I’d been eying those things for 20+ years, and sure wasn’t going to let her change her mind!
So, you go, Chitter and Chatter!
:)rockhounds rule . . .
Actually I do have a few rocks I’ve collected. I have a ballast stone from Savannah. A granite rock from a mountain in California. Rocks from Seattle, Wyoming,one from a canoe trip not far from home, and a Petosky stone from near Lake Michigan. It’s fun when someone is going on a trip and ask what they can bring you and you tell them you want a rock. A small one, but a rock. It’s free and gives them a quest on their trip.
Tipper,
I think all kids have a fascination with rocks at sometime in their lives. Brandon and Jordan love collecting rocks and they have some that are quite unique. When I went to Kentucky in 2005, they asked me to bring back some Kentucky rocks, which I did. They loved them.
The boys want to go to northern Ontario where amethyst is found. I’m sure they would have fun hunting for a piece or two.
Loved The Rock of Ages. I don’t hear that old hymn much anymore.
Have a great week, my friend.
Blessings,
Mary
I just love the old hymns. I have a few that are serious favorites of mine – my all time favorite pieces of music. As with most things, LOL, I love the old stuff the most. Awesome arrangement of Rock of Ages!
I like rocks…nice post as always. Thanks!
Hi, Tipper! Boy, this brought back memories. My oldest (the one who just left for college) caused me to ban rocks from inside the house unless they were in proper containers. I was tired of vacuumming them up by accident. Now, his room is silent and there are long-forgotten egg-cartons stacked with treasures that will never be opened with quite the same enthusiasm. Makes this mama want to speak the warning of time to those in such a precious predictiment of finding more places around the house for precious stones and precious memories. Who would have thought rocks could have all the appeal to some as a new toy? What love!
-Teresa
I’m a shell woman.
Collecter I mean 😉
My Toddler? Rocksrocksrocks all the way.
In a jar.
I now wanna get a pretty blue dish.
M.
Lovely treatment of Rock of Ages.
I’m not generally a rock collector, but that One Rock I have collected.
Yes, I collect rock, have for years. I try to contain myself though.
Boo also is a rock collector.
And I absolutely love that song.
They have quite a collection. Its very beautiful 🙂
Loved the song. A lot.
My brother and I used to college rocks. We had ones that we bought on cardstock that were labeled. And loose ones we bought. And ones we would find in the yard and at the river. We tumbled and polished rocks.
My girls love them, too. We don’t have grass lawns here, we have rock yards. Some of the rocks are pretty, and now that is something we find everyhwere we go. We need a porch, huh?
I only have one rock that I’ve kept for a LONG time. My niece found it and turned it into a pen stand for me when she was about 6. It’s about the size of my palm, beige with brown streaks. I’ve since removed the pen since it got used up, but kept that beautiful rock.
I love Chitter and Chatter’s collection more than I can say … and their glass collection is fabulous too. Thanks for sharing their rock story.
Rock of Ages … those voices … like angels, Pap and Paul. You just know I had to keep playing it over and over again. And thanks to all three for the great strumming. I think you guys ROCK! xxoo
I’m a long time rock collector. Love rocks so much I ended up teaching earth science for 25 years. Never met a rock I didn’t love. Wish I lived in the mountains so I could have boulders in my yard.
I love their version of the song!
And Licious is a rock hound too! 🙂
What 5 year old cuties! I think it is a gift indeed to be able to see beauty in all things ~ especially in that of Creation. Even rocks. 🙂 I have a few of my own …
Tipper: What a great story of the rock collection. The girls probably can use them for decorating. Polished rocks are beautiful.
I always like to have flat rocks for skipping on the river or lake. I may have collected a few lucky stones (the white ones) but they are long gone.
I do have a large collection of fishing poles, I wonder why that has happened? LOL Does that count?
Evening Tipper! *laughing* I can definitely relate to this post. 1) Petra in Greek means “rock”.
2) “Rock of Ages” is one of the most beautiful songs; your family brings such tenderness to an already tender song.
3) I love rocks. Go figure. Whether the name, or just curious when I started as your daughters. My collection isn’t as huge as theirs but have a nice assortment some of which I’ve had made into pendants. Didn’t a wise woman once say “Make do with what you have?” :))
Tipper,
My daughter is a rock collector, too! My goodness; she is fascinated by color, shape, texture, shine… I think when kids fall for rocks they become like little poets. May your girls always see the beauty in ordinary things. And thanks for the song!
My oldest is a rock collector. My parents just got back from a two month tour of the west and had to bring her a rock from every notable point along their journey.
Most have ended up in my washing machine since she carries them in her pockets.
I don’t collect rocks, but I sure love this version of Rock of Ages….
I love rocks too and have a lot of fossils that I have picked up over the years. Of course living at the beach my shell collection is pretty large too and I’m usually one of the first to hit the beach after a storm. Never know what you will find.
I listened twice! I love Rock of Ages and I loved hearing your family sing it. blessings, marlene
How I love collecting rocks. It never stops. Never.
To this day, I pick up rocks on hikes and walks only to carry them all the way back home and have Josh look at me and say, “Well, what do you want to do with the rocks?”
My reply?
“I don’t know. I just couldn’t help myself.”