Issue 13
Rock
John Sheirer
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Rock
The most distinctive feature of the Pennsylvania hills is felsenmeer, the countless chunks of rock that poke up through the ground. It seems Pennsylvania was just on the border of glacial advancement during the last ice age, so the ground here went through a long series of freezing and thawing, over and over again, until much of the rock was crushed and broken to bits and strewn everywhere.
I shoveled and scooped through thousands of these rocks when digging fence post holes with my father around our farm. The blisters on my hands left scars that took months to fade. It was like digging into the rocky bed of a creek. And I tripped over millions of these rocks in the woods. Felsenmeer is not the huge erratic boulders or delicate and charming mica of the New England woods. It's just lots of clunky gray rocks that always seem to be exactly where you want to put your foot for your next step -- the place where healthy ankles go to die.
~John Sheirer
John Sheirer teaches at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut. His books can be found by searching his name at Amazon. Website. Email.
© 2003 by John Sheirer. All Rights Reserved.
© Copyright 2003 by Cayuse Press. All Rights Reserved.