In the RV park where we are at the time of this writing, as with most RV parks there are some residents who live there long-term. Over the past couple of days, I’ve noticed a group of a half dozen kids who live here have set up a little kiosk, much like the lemonade stands I and my friends did with some regularity when I was a kid. But it wasn’t lemonade they were selling, it was hand painted rocks. I stopped to ask what they were doing and they shared the details of their venture and pitched me on buying some rocks. Before committing, I shared my own interest with pretty rocks and told them I would bring back some of my polished rocks to show them. I returned after lunch and greeted my young entrepreneur friends to which one of the girls gave me a look that said “I think you just called us something really bad” so I explained what the word meant and they decided they liked the idea of being entrepreneurs. I brought out my box of polished rocks and after eagerly pawing through them with lots of “Oooohs and Aaaahs” I surprised them with a bag of about a dozen rocks I had picked out to share with them. I told them I was looking for something very special and they didn’t have what I wanted but I was sure they could help me out with a custom consignment project. They were offering rocks at whatever I thought was a fair price with a 25 cent minimum. A while back, Cindy and I found a lovely hand painted rock at the entrance to a trail leading to a favorite beach and decided we would do something similar to pay that simple inspiration forward. I created this meme on Facebook to share how that simple experience made me feel.
I told my new friends I would like rocks painted with the single-word inspiration of Faith, Hope and Charity and that if they would make me 2 of each, I would give them the $10 I had in my pocket that they could split among themselves. It was inspiring to see these industrious kids spring into action as they immediately grabbed their paints and set to work on my little project. I later decided that rather than taking the rocks with us and posting them at various trailheads, this park is quite large with trails everywhere so I told them that as my gift, I would still give them the same amount of money but asked that they post the rocks themselves at the various trailheads right here in the campground. It would have the desired effect for us but give them the added benefit of being able to keep tabs on our little project and see how it inspired others who hiked these trails. They thought that sounded like great fun. I met the mom and dad of a couple members of the group at the residence where they had set up shop. Turns out dad works at Rainier as a ranger and with my revised plan said he would put one at a trailhead leading up to the mountain. There are a few trails up there where an inspiration like a rock with the word “Faith” might be really applicable. I though that was a great idea and so did did our “board of directors”. They did a nice job as you can see in the close up shot on a couple of the finished rocks. I think this little twist in their business plan really brightened their day, but it did mine as well. Rainier has been beautiful but this was definitely one of the high points of my stay here. Thanks guys, for a really upbeat day. Maybe their new venture could evolve from selling rocks to an “Adopt-a-Rock” program where they paint custom messages for customers and Ranger Dad could put them on multiple trailheads or at points along the trails at Rainier and people who caught on to what was going on would be delighted. If they do, I hope they’ll let me know so I can do a follow up blog. With any luck those rocks will be there a long time to inspire hikers.
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