- Love on the rocks. Scotch on the rocks. Marriage on the rocks. Getting my rocks off. They've got rocks in their head. Rock hard. Rock and Roll. Hard rock. Rock on brother, Plymouth Rock, The Rock (Alcatraz), Bad Day at Black Rock..
But how many people do you know who might tell you they went "rock shopping?"
But that's exactly how my past Saturday was spent, when my youngest daughter Susan and her boyfriend and I took a trip out to Skyview Stone, Kings Park, NY in the work truck Greg was able to borrow from his job. Greg is a surveyor who spends a good deal of time in the field with a crew of helpers who get ferried to the job site in a Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab vehicle that can seat six and take on a thousand pound load. This Saturday, I was part of the crew.
Apparently, Dodge Ram trucks are everywhere. When we pulled onto the property Greg was disappointed there was no muddy gully for the truck to go through. No rain recently. It seems guys who love trucks also love mud, and the chance to show off gear drives that get you through it. No matter. When we pulled we were the fourth Ram truck to park by the trailer that serves as the office. Guts, Glory, Ram.
This was a good omen, because guys who love trucks and mud, also love to talk about trucks, and the proprietor immediately started talking truck with Greg. It's another language. Which one had better valves.
Skywiew does boast a view of the sky. At night, with the right lighting, you might think you landed on the moon. With enough to drink, you might even think you can see the planet Earth off in the distance.
Red rocks, white rocks, black rocks, grey rocks, tan rocks, and even rocks that looked like brown oatmeal, all shapes and sizes. And weight. Even the nearly smallest rock could be difficult to lift. At 50 cents a pound, (up to a 1,000 pounds, after which it got a little cheaper) no matter what rock you chose, we browsed.
A white rock that turned out to be marble was decided on. I wasn't too hard to haul it up and put it in the little red wagon we brought with us. Anything bigger, the owner would have fork lifted the rock onto the truck. How we would have handled it after that would have been up to us.
Near the wooden platform scale there was a bigger Ram truck, an 8500 that was in the process of getting a 4 ton boulder loaded onto to with a hoist. The owner explained that there was a local woman whose house was on a tricky curve in a road who in the last four months had two DUI drivers misjudge the turn and land on her lawn. She was tired of that. With a boulder that size in place the next one to misjudge a turn might easily get flattened by driving into Gibraltar.
The proprietor laughed a bit at our red wagon. I explained that it I used to pull my daughters in it, and now one of them was with me rock shopping. Nothing like bringing a family heirloom to a rock pile that looked like the old exercise yard at Sing Sing..
The owner asked me to get on the platform and guess my weight. I gave a number and the digital readout was within a pound of my guess. I asked if I now qualified for a 10% discount. No.
The "big" rock, and the smaller one we took came to a total of 110 pounds. $50 cash would seal the deal. Easy. Well prepared with cash.
The rocks now sit in their places in the garden. They are snow white, almost glowing in the dark. Just what I wanted. But I'm beginning to see what must go through the mind of people who get their first tattoo. They want another one.
Perhaps there are rocks in my head. Bit I'm beginning to think another trip to Skyview might someday materialize.
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
Apparently, Dodge Ram trucks are everywhere. When we pulled onto the property Greg was disappointed there was no muddy gully for the truck to go through. No rain recently. It seems guys who love trucks also love mud, and the chance to show off gear drives that get you through it. No matter. When we pulled we were the fourth Ram truck to park by the trailer that serves as the office. Guts, Glory, Ram.
This was a good omen, because guys who love trucks and mud, also love to talk about trucks, and the proprietor immediately started talking truck with Greg. It's another language. Which one had better valves.
Skywiew does boast a view of the sky. At night, with the right lighting, you might think you landed on the moon. With enough to drink, you might even think you can see the planet Earth off in the distance.
Red rocks, white rocks, black rocks, grey rocks, tan rocks, and even rocks that looked like brown oatmeal, all shapes and sizes. And weight. Even the nearly smallest rock could be difficult to lift. At 50 cents a pound, (up to a 1,000 pounds, after which it got a little cheaper) no matter what rock you chose, we browsed.
A white rock that turned out to be marble was decided on. I wasn't too hard to haul it up and put it in the little red wagon we brought with us. Anything bigger, the owner would have fork lifted the rock onto the truck. How we would have handled it after that would have been up to us.
Near the wooden platform scale there was a bigger Ram truck, an 8500 that was in the process of getting a 4 ton boulder loaded onto to with a hoist. The owner explained that there was a local woman whose house was on a tricky curve in a road who in the last four months had two DUI drivers misjudge the turn and land on her lawn. She was tired of that. With a boulder that size in place the next one to misjudge a turn might easily get flattened by driving into Gibraltar.
The proprietor laughed a bit at our red wagon. I explained that it I used to pull my daughters in it, and now one of them was with me rock shopping. Nothing like bringing a family heirloom to a rock pile that looked like the old exercise yard at Sing Sing..
The owner asked me to get on the platform and guess my weight. I gave a number and the digital readout was within a pound of my guess. I asked if I now qualified for a 10% discount. No.
The "big" rock, and the smaller one we took came to a total of 110 pounds. $50 cash would seal the deal. Easy. Well prepared with cash.
The rocks now sit in their places in the garden. They are snow white, almost glowing in the dark. Just what I wanted. But I'm beginning to see what must go through the mind of people who get their first tattoo. They want another one.
Perhaps there are rocks in my head. Bit I'm beginning to think another trip to Skyview might someday materialize.
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
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