Thursday, June 19, 2014

Good Rock Fences…

We have no shortage of rocks here in New England.  Greg and I found that out the hard way when we bought our first house here.  It was new construction and there was no landscaping done so we, in our naiveté, attempted it on our own.  We managed to get grass growing eventually but we never had then, and I don’t have now, any luck with any other kinds of plantings.  I’m sure that much of it can be attributed to lack of patience and perseverance on my part and, yes, maybe a lack of real interest.  But I am going to put a good deal of the blame of my giving up on gardening to trying to dig around rocks and having to get rid of rocks.
Even though I’ve said that, I must admit, that I really like rocks.  In fact, I love rocks.  I have rocks sitting around all over the house for no good reason except that they please me…rocks sitting on their own and rocks sitting together in bowls.  Okay, so maybe I’m a little weird.
Having lived here in Massachusetts for more than thirty years now, I’ve come to think that New Englanders actually had the right idea about rocks.  There are not so many traditional farms around these days, but the remnants of the old farms are everywhere in the form of rock walls weaving their artful way almost everywhere out here in the country.  The farmers dug up the rocks and used them in a practical way.  And in spite of Robert Frost saying that “something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” these walls don’t seem to be going anywhere. And I sometimes wonder how long the walls will continue to stand?  Probably long after I am gone and my personal bowls of rocks have been dumped back into nature by my kids who wonder why their crazy mother was keeping all those rocks around.
So today I decided to post a couple pictures of rock walls that I have come across around here.  I think they are just the most beautiful kind of fence.




I'm linking up with Theresa at The Run*A*Round Ranch Report's Good Fences.  Thanks, Theresa!

17 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

just wonderful... we don't see rock fences here in this part of texas - ground is too unstable to support them. it shifts, expands, cracks, swells - also the reason we don't have basements.

i, too, have rocks sitting around in vases, jars, window sills... :)

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

I think you have the only rock fence this week for Good Fences. You win!

21 Wits said...

Wow! I am a fan of trees and that first one just rocks my world! Great presentation and the second one right out of a good novel!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i love rock walls ... the hubby & i mention them all the time. they are every where in VA. i really enjoy them. like you said you never can have too many rocks ... they are a plenty. (wink. wink.) ( :

Gail Dixon said...

I agree with you about the rock fences. I worked for a landscape designer once and he created a rock fence for a client that was absolutely beautiful. Your photos are quite lovely!

Ida said...

Great shots of the rock wall/fences. That b/w shot in the cemetery is really cool looking.

Brian King said...

Love these kinds of fences! This looks just like the ones we have here in Kentucky. They're trying to preserve the ones that are left.

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

Beautiful! I love the b&w photo especially. I love rocks, and rock fences, too. You don't see too many rock fences around here. But they seem so stable and strong.

BumbleVee said...

I love rock fences ... perfect use of an abundant resource...
In Portugal, they build them of granite and marble... it's plentiful there... and leftovers are all over the place...

Debbie said...

I just adore these rock fences, we always see so many when we are in Ct. I can't even image how long they must take to construct!!

MadSnapper said...

i can't decide which is the most beautiful, the trees or the rocks.. i love rocks and trees and these are wonderful

Tanya Breese said...

i love, love, love rock walls!! beautiful images!

Pamela Gordon said...

I love rock wall fences. I think they are beautiful and a sign of very hard work by our ancestors. Picking rocks to clear fields for crops etc. must have been so hard and what do you do with them. Build a wall fence. Around here the big rocks often ended up in huge piles in a field and sometimes along hedgerows that grow up with trees and such over the decades. We don't have the pretty rock walls like down in the states. I love your photos!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

I grew up in Massachusetts (now living in WA state) and one of the things I dearly miss is all the stone walls. Beautiful photos. - Karen

Deanna said...

Those are wonderful rock fences. I have never been to your part of the country but it reminds me of England and our one trip we made there. Beautiful!!

Rose said...

Oh, rock walls are my favorites...I just love rocks anyway. I have loved them since I was a child.

And Lorelei loves rocks, too. I have taught her well.

Rose said...

And I didn't even tell you that these are lovely examples of why I love them....