I'm interested in rocks and art made with rocks, stones or pebbles: buildings, bridges, cairns, Inukshuks, and rock balancing. The old stone farm houses are my favourite to see and photograph in rural Ontario.

Rocks are used as a way to mark the path of travelers, to tell others they had passed that way. It's not just a romantic notion. There are good, practical reasons for wanting people to know where you have gone and where you might be found. Hikers get lost, have accidents and run ins with wildlife.

I like the custom of putting little pebbles on graves to mark that you were there, still remembering and still visiting.

Markawasi - Peru's ancient and mysterious stone forest. Markawasi (also spelled Marcahuasi), located at 12,500′ in the Andes Mountains. YouTube - Marka Wasi - Peru's Inexplicable Stone Forest - Kathy Doore

Kathy Doore (1953 - 2015) has written Markawasi: Peru's Inexplicable Stone Forest She had a website about Markawasi (and her book) but it is no longer online.

The man responsible for what little is known about Marcahuasi, was the late Daniel Ruzo, a Peruvian explorer. This interview was probably his last, filmed in 1991. With his wife Carola translating (both pictured left), we learn of his theories about the creation of the images in Markawasi. A forgotten race created the statues before they were destroyed by a world-wide cataclysm. A warning to us, he says.

According to the Ruzo’s, the previous humanity lived on earth in Proto-History; before our civilization. They were very advanced, able to travel world wide and left evidence of themselves in many places. (see Romanian “Sphinx”, right) This agrees with theories of the Hopi Indians suggesting we are not the first humanity to reach a degree of developmental sophistication, but probably the fourth or fifth.

Quoted from: The Mysterious Stone Monuments of Markawasi Peru

As a reader (and keeper of books) one thing I especially like are bookends. I have some standard black wire bookends which do the job of keeping my books from falling over. But, they just do the job, nothing more. I prefer bookends with some drama, some personality and some mystery even. Sometimes I like a romantic style, sometimes architecture catches my eye and I have bookends which are not really bookends but chunks of rock and stone from old buildings.

Whatever bookends attract you they still need to be functional. The purpose of bookends is not to pose fashionable at the end of a row of books. Bookends need to hold up your books, keep them from falling over on bookshelves and then slipping and slopping their way onto the floor. Bookends are great.

I have a lovely bookshelf but... the sides were not designed with the idea of keeping books in place. The sides are left open and my books fall through if I don't use bookends to hold them in place. I also use this for my very small collection of video games and my even smaller collection of movies on DVDs. So, bookends aren't just for books and book readers.

Gargoyles Would Look Great on my Bookshelves

Don't those gargoyles look great. Sitting there, quiet, still and supposedly made of rock with rock for brains too. However, I suspect when you head off to work, school, or whatever it is you do with your day, the gargoyles will read your books. I hope you pick something good for them to read. Change around the books they hold too. You don't want to leave them with nothing new to read.

You don't need to leave your gargoyles milk and cookies, that would be silly. You're just thinking of Santa. But, a well placed bookmark would be a great idea to keep them from turning down pages to mark their place in your book.

Does a dragon count as a gargoyle? I think so. Dragons have been seen on the sides of buildings among the other odder looking gargoyles. I wonder if they all have their books tucked away up there, hidden from public view?

Gargoyle Girl, is/was a site by Gigi Pandian. It's still online but no longer updated.