Each balance is possible because there is a definite, but fine line between equilibrium and collapse.  I found these rocks and conceptualized the balance on a previous day, the wind was too strong to realize it.  So I went back the next day during a freakish spring snow storm. A somewhat regular occurrence during springtime in Boulder, Colorado.  Maybe you can tell from the most previous posts, that the weather has been warm until now.. then… BOOM.. at least a foot of fluffy spring snow.  But the only weather that really stops me from playing with rocks is wind.  I LOVE snow. :)

Snow normally adds an interesting element to the experience. something different. human traffic dies off.. leaving me along in the creek with the rocks.. the silence grows LOUD in these conditions.. and I love it.  This balance required a bit of extra persistence, taking an estimated 1.5 hours to realize.. nearly gave up once or twice… but I KNEW it was possible… I had FELT the still points several times. it was simply a matter of lining up the angles correctly for the extreme point/counter-balance.  The high center of gravity compounded the challenge as all the rocks had to be extremely precise to achieve the intended “S” curve. The rocks Slipped easily with the constant wet snowfall… but once the balance is found, slipping does not happen. Although intensely precarious, the definitive line of balance carried enough inertia to withstand a lot of snowfall.. assuming no lateral wind.

these pictures are from the morning… more from the evening will follow…..after snowing all day :)

“The Universe is saying: Allow me to flow through you unrestricted, and you will see the greatest magic you have ever seen.” – Klaus Joehle

estimated time for realization: 1.5 hours
air temperature: -5(ish) C
payoff: infinite
observed magic: infinite
happy feeling: infinite :)

One of the advantages to indoor balancing is a much more controlled environment.. When it’s cold and/or windy, indoor is a nice solution.. here I can play with not only finer balances, but also precision lighting.. :)  I have an old wood desk that I normally do my work on… at night, I’ve begun clearing it off and setting up my small makeshift photo studio.. :)

Supplies?

- Large piece of black foam-board… (I like dark) for the background
- heavy, solid, wood desk… or solid base
- warm and/or cold lights… (soft white/daylight)
- Rocks

Advice? …step lightly. houses are not nearly as solid as the planet. ;)

I like doing this at night because of the easily accessible void-like darkness….  It is a nice change to photograph the rocks emerging from darkness, instead of the regular condition of working in daylight..

This balance with the three round rocks is a bit more multidimensional than doing a straight vertical arrangement..  Why? because it flows along a CURVED line of balance… slightly feminine in a way.. <3 Here the curves are the result of continuous counterbalance.. The weight of the top two rocks balances the third, while the top rock counterbalances the second… Simple yet challenging to realize, especially wokring with roundish rocks….. Not only are all the rocks on very fine counterbalance points, but friction is also at a threshold… the two lower round rocks are begging to slip and collapse..

“Many times I think I need the silence… And it’s not an escape, it’s a kind of complimentary activity. At times it’s so completely absorbing. But there are other times… when you’re cross country skiing, when you’re cycling, you can reflect, and often I find.. solutions, to designs. There are many dimensions to those pursuits..obviously they’re about pleasure.. but they’re so inextricably linked with what I do as a designer.”

- Norman Foster (English Architect)

Here are some more indoor creations from the past few days…Each one, especially the back and forth counterbalances incorporate a great deal of physical tension as they slink upward..  Evidenced by the large rocks on the tops of these, all that weight must be balanced for each rock below… meaning all the balanced weights are opposing one another for the most part…

For the full moon this morning I found myself at a friend’s house about 5 miles up a winding mountain road from Boulder. The view from up here is always a gift. City lights of Boulder in the distance… Louisville beyond that, and eventually Denver.  More often than not when I’m up here, the sun rises in brilliant silence. This night was especially calm for hilltop areas like this… I brought my camera gear up in anticipation of a sweet sunrise. Rocks came into the picture when I realized how still the air rested…It feels especially quiet to observe the city lights from an elevated distance.

My first idea was to get the city lights behind a moonlight balance. Check. Then I began to play around upon realizing several interesting angles of the small outcrop of rock. Especially with the Full Moon glow. To get a decent exposure with low ISO, my shutter speed required 20 seconds to collect sufficient light. The challenge was staying still in the pose for a continuous 20 seconds, while noticing a steep drop just below my feet. Even with balancing myself there was a still point, in which balance felt natural and undisturbed. It was much harder to maintain the still point with a dynamic and “wiggly” system like my body.

This is the kind of of colorful sunrise I was hoping for when I initially brought my camera with me into the mountains.. The sunrise built up for nearly half an hour before it EXPLODED with color!!  Absolutely breathtaking!  I think this was captured at around 7:17 am that morning according to my camera.. As evidenced by the balance, which is slightly different from the night photo, the morning carried an intense calm.  Even the slightest breeze would have toppled this balance, but the cool mountain air rested as if in awe of the rising sun.

Moments like these always make me think of a special poem by William Blake..

“He who binds to himself a joy,
Does the winged life destroy.
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity’s Sunrise.”

There was a group of people at the same house sitting in a hot tub close by… Through making this balance in silence, I acquired the label “Wizard” by the hot-tubbers.. ha… :D

“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Today had a sense of renewal as temperatures broke above freezing.  A desolate place yesterday is now springing with movement as water and air slowly melt ice.  Much more attention must be paid to the ice during a melting phase like this. Although strong, it is a matter of time before the ice starts fracturing.  Like I’ve said in the past, knowing the general creek depths wherever I am is important for safety… It was actually really fun to feel the ice for weak points and break out sections.  These pictures however, show a naturally occurring channel of water flow through the ice… today the edges of the ice seen here had enough strength to hold all my body weight.

It’s noticeably quieter on the creek when ice muffles the flow. The last few days had an ominous silence in the freezing cold. I hear it each time I look back on the photos…  But for these photographs, although mostly ice, I can hear the pleasant drone of water flow growing as the ice recedes.. There is a great deal of “silence” in the creek’s drone.. Perhaps for the way it cleanses my flow of thought, as if simply taking it downstream with the endless tumble of “stuff”.  Usually if I begin thinking about anything at the creek it’ll be in terms of music rather than words.  And then still deeper are the most intense pivotal moments of stone balance, or “ZERO POINTS”, where focus is 1000% and I can’t really begin to comprehend where my mind is, or what it’s doing…I LOVE this place of “no-mind” as Eckhart Tolle refers to because it is so mysteriously ecstatic AND unaware of time.  Each balance is like a unique journey through a state of no-mind or stillness… There is no way to comprehensively explain the state of mind in words…. maybe..  ZEN… which by nature eludes full explanation..

Do not stand
at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds
that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight
on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the
morning’s hush
I am the soft uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star that
shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there.
I did not die.

— Anonymous

Hmmm… where does one begin..?

I spent today in the silence of the mountains again..

Seemed like an ordinary day… until I arrived home and caught wind of today’s tragic events. Yet another mass school shooting..? This time in an elementary school..?

I have very few words to explain my feelings about this… so I leave you with my photo of rocks. Balanced and left in silence, probably as many children lost their lives..

Sad. Tragic. Surprising. Not surprising. This culture is beyond sick and has been as long as I can remember… which is why I tend to detach from the regular grind of commerce and consumer culture… also why many know me as a “space cadet”… like this afternoon for example.

I feel a deep sadness in my heart when I think of all those kids… They must have been so excited for Christmas with their families… not to mention how devastated the families must feel.

Death of ANYONE always touches me deeply. Not in a negative way… but more so in a “i wish you well brother” kind of way… Every time someone dies, I look at it as a reminder of my own impending death, along with my infinite blessings.  A reminder to be humble and observant… appreciative for this moment of breath. And contentment in the possibility that I may NOT be alive tomorrow, or even 5 minutes from now…

But even then, I am not really dead. I will have simply BECOME all of those fleeting moments of beauty described in the above poem..  :)

For this last image, I love the wave that this cloud made through the sky around twilight. slightly ominous. But quite enchanting as well. Almost as if the cloud recognized the balance and posed accordingly for the picture…

Everything is fine in a land outside time… in the land of NOW.

“Honor the past as your teacher, honor the present as your creation, and honor the future as your inspiration.”

“Medicine Cards: 24 – Crow (Contrary)”

It’s been an interesting week of learning to say the least. The media attention to my site felt both exhilarating and overwhelming. Such an amazing feeling to have so many people interested in my creations!

Since the most recent Full Moon I seem to be more easily excitable.. I’m noticing myself smiling more often, even laughing with a playful appreciation.  Could also be that I’m just noticing it more than before too..

This is one of the more difficult systems of balance I’ve created so far.  I find it slightly confounding to contemplate and explain the method of making this.  The horizontal base slab was the length of my arm (~2.5 feet) and way too heavy to lift with one arm.  Another case where the creation of this structure was only possible with the consciousness of all previous balance experience…

This arrangement (in the Black and White photo) is the 3rd of three structures I built today. Each one evolving slightly from the last.

Here is the FIRST one of the day…

here is the SECOND one..

I started the day with a desire for silence from excessive mind-chatter and anxiety.

Finished the day with a sense of stillness. :)