What can you see in a stone?

A perfect place to skim a stone, a pebbly beach and a calm lake

I

A beautiful stone with mossy patches

Signs of life from long ago

Just thinking about stones... Whenever small children see stones on a beach or in a park, they can't resist picking them up, as many as their little hands will hold. They seem to love the feel of all the little stones and pebbles rolling around in their hands and slipping through their fingers. Little boys might like to throw their precious handfuls up in the air and watch them shower to the ground. Of course they have to be taught to control their throwing about so  that no- one gets hurt. One way of doing this is  to teach them the game of Skimming stones - throwing flat stones into a lake and making them bounce, or into a bucket of water so they make a satisfying splosh.

Bigger stones will often have moss growing on them like a mini rockery. If you are lucky and look carefully at stones you might see signs of life from thousands of years ago.

My poem for the day is about a stone. It's a joyful poem with a carefree bounce just like a stone skimming on a pond. It's by the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886).

How happy is the little stone

That rambles in the road alone,

And doesn't care about careers

And exigencies never fears;

Whose coat of elemental brown

A passing universe put on,

And independent as the sun

Associates or glows alone;

Fulfilling absolute decree

In casual simplicity.