Heart of stone

Lake Aviemore below the Dam

A memory from holiday keeps reminding me to write it down as my stone for the day
It had been raining alot since we arrived in Otematata. I hadnt really noticed as it was still warm and I was getting out walking.lots of mushrooms to keep me occupied..very exciting.

On the second to last day with Ruth , Jack and Em..the sun blazed in the afternoon and Zac was inspired to walk up to a great swimming spot on the river. It was fantastic.We took the inner tube up and all played and floated down rapids.At first it was freezing but as the sun warmed the rocks the water traveling over them grew warmer and after a few hours we just jumped in again and again.
At the side of the river we sat for a while and poured hot sand over our limbs to warm them.We ate ready salted potato chips and hunted for miniature rocks for Ruth and the kids to take home as small pieces of Otematata. I found a Greywacke heart for Ruth that she is going to make into a ring. A perfectly shaped Boulder the size of a pea for Emily and a curiosity for Jack.While I was finding things for others my son handed me a heart at the same time I found him one....
There is a poem by ee cummings that I particularly like called

maggie and milly and molly and may



maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea


And I keep thinking of this verse from Ezekial which imprinted on me after Parachute last  year...

 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

A heart of flesh is a good thing..tricky but good.
When in Samoa I found a black lava heart..it fitted in right in the centre of my palm.It isnt perfect but for the moment its mine and it reminds me of Gods promise.