Formed at the base of a warm coral filled sea, these beautiful wrinkled rocks proudly show us their marks of time. Once lapped by salty waves, they sit now high on a mountainside on the Isle of Skye. Far to the north and west of the British Isles, they disclose secrets about the passage of time, from the heart of the earth. Their curves and shapes have been dissolved from solid stone, tucked beneath a shallow blanket of turf. Now the earth peels back and reveals her work, showing us impossible shapes of faces and bones scattered within sight of the mighty Coullin.
Limestone and Marble, scattered casually across green flower filled grass. Fed by the nutrients of shells, crushed millennia ago, the vibrancy of life is released again from these living stones. Nothing is ever truly lost, just recycled, as the earth shows us. Bound in rock, but now flowing freely through the flowers and leaf blades, these minerals speak of dissolving and releasing old long held patterns. If we peel back our own turf, our armour and our masks, we might reveal some wonderful new shapes and patterns. In the process we might even recycle some long held emotions, freeing them to flow once more through our lives.
breathofgreenair 
I am always amazed at how you can find poetry, soul and beauty in the things we mere mortals might pass without a thought or glance.
Kellie, what a lovely comments thank you! You make my strange brain sound so graceful! Poetry, soul and beauty sound like a pretty awesome trio…..so I’ll hang on to this idea if you don’t mind 🙂
Love your title, Seonaid. I really enjoyed your thoughts on wrinkles being beautiful. I have to admit that they look rather good on those rocks. Great post again. 🙂
Recycling is positive – I think always. Nature is doing it all the time, and we are part of Nature. People today often seem to forget that. Beautiful post of a beautiful country, as always
It’s so true. I often reflect on and observe nature to try to understand myself a little more. Our modern technology can distance us from our animal natures….and yet in knowing these natural parts of ourselves we can know ourselves and our world better 🙂
So it is. When my first child came I only went for what felt natural those first years. I am well aquainted with how animals raise their offspring, and we are not that different…Somehow we have lost that “feeling” today, many of us. only trusting books and science.
It’s a good feeling to peel back those layers, as long as we are safe!
Oh yes Gilly, we must feel safe…..otherwise we can be left feeling naked and vulnerable….never a pretty sight where I’m concerned 🙂
Gorgeous shots.
Thanks Fi, the light was very flat that day, but it was good for capturing rock textures!
Truly poignant and so true. Your pictures are incredible! I would be amazing to see what was housed in others if they let their rock walls crumble. Thank you!
Gwynn I’m so delighted to hear how much you enjoy my images.
As for the insides of others….it would indeed be interesting 🙂
Nice. Thanks. Your descriptions reminded me of Darwin’s discoveries of sea shells high up in the Andes Mountains .. just one of many bits of evidence which was suggestive to him of a restless and turbulent earth. D
What a wonderful phrase David…a restless and turbulent earth 🙂
The limestone and sandstone rocks around Edinburgh and the East Lothian coast birthed the ideas of modern geology…they have captivated and interested me since childhood…in fact I nearly took a place to study geology as an undergraduate!
Beautiful images with beautiful and wise thoughts. I like the idea of recycling, even when it comes to our innermost selves. 🙂
Thanks Robin….recycling is a great way of rejuvenating our inner selves 🙂
Stone wrinkles, perfect phrase. Wise thoughts to go with the photos. (I think some day you must visit the Canadian Shield country… you would connect with it immediately.)
Penny I’m off to Google Canadian Shield….but if it has limestone formations I know I will love it.
Canadian Shield was formerly known as the Precambrian Shield (Cambrian until then thought to be the oldest known); it is granite not limestone and was greatly exposed & scarred by glacial action. Your latest post re Skye, with that ‘dinosaur backbone’ of rock running through the images, makes me think again of our shield country — & certainly want to visit Skye. Magic. And spiritual, I understand that, I felt that way walking on Ellesmere Island in our High Arctic.
reply # 2… For limestone formations, instead go google Niagara Escarpment. (There’s one park Nigel & I visited on the geological border between the two, where there’s an exposed bit of class face that is the rich pulsing colours of Shield granite to the east, smack against the nuanced grey edge of the Niagara Escarpment to the west. Now I must go google Skye!
Thanks Seonaid … Evocative and thought provoking. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox.
An interesting post. I totally agree about peeling back our armour and releasing long held emotions that are holding us back. On a lighter note – What would be really good would be if we could peel back the wrinkles on our skin to expose the youthful self we feel ourselves to be 🙂
Suzanne wouldn’t that be great….if our young selves were just under our skin 🙂
Beautiful wrinkles though : ) I have some lava photos hanging around that also have wrinkles : )
Oh yes, I love these rock wrinkles….such interesting shapes and textures 🙂
Would love to see your lava shots.
I find such natural beauty in stone. Here is a link to my lava post! It was awesome too ! Thanks Seonaid ! http://wp.me/p2dwKf-wj
We are lucky stones do not apply anti-aging lotions!
So true, they would look a lot less interesting 🙂