While human-built cairns are often purposeful and used for wayfinding, plenty of rock sculptures, labyrinth paths and stick mobiles are made — mostly — for fun. For meditative moments. For beauty.
(It’s worth mentioning the old “take only pictures, leave only footprints” environmental ethos here. Disturbing limbs, stones and leaves also disturbs salamanders, changes the flow of water, uproots ground cover. We should take care.)
And, the desire — to lift up, to point to, to decorate and celebrate and try to articulate — is ancient (see 51,200 year old cave paintings in Indonesia) and lasting (see Andy Goldsworthy et al). People carry on the tradition every day…
Haiku 14, 2026
Humans embellish
Each stone and stump is fodder
It’s a kind of praise
Oh, I hadn’t even thought of the harm removing stones and limbs could cause. That’s good to know. I still do love a good cairn, though. It IS a kind of praise – what a lovely way of putting it.
I know… it’s funny. We want to interact with nature in the gentlest of ways but we’re so human and lumbering…