A wad of years ago Beth and I walked up alongside a creek outside of Stowe, Vermont. Miles in we passed a rock. Unlike any others we saw anywhere around there. Black, smooth, near egg-shaped. Nine inches long. Very dense, heavy. We had no backpack, but were captivated by this find, so we lugged it back to our car, drove it home. Where it was promptly adopted by our sadly ailing cat Velella. Who seemed comforted by it, who licked it, who often slept by it until the day she died. I am not a woo woo kinda guy as those who know me will attest, more of a dorky scientist who can easily cry. But our “Velella Rock” is very special to us, lives just inside our bedroom door, is looked at every day. Sometimes it makes me cry. In a good way.
A couple years ago I took its picture, dark background. Then, when helping to design Beth’s MurmuringRecords.com website pages, I played with that picture, realized that the inverse (negative) of it was really beautiful. It is now the backdrop for Beth’s Music Page.