Sharieland Again 01

Cool view up toward the open space containing Herman’s Mansion from Head Line below.

There’s definitely a considerable amount of poison ivy and poison oak (below) in the area, but moreso in the meadow between the path and the mansion, as I found out last Tuesday. More on that in a moment.

Interesting rocks litter the area around Head Line and Heart Line below the mansion. I’ll make a more comprehensive study soon, perhaps even tomorrow and the day after that, which I’ve taken off from work for additional hiking fun. Can’t wait.

Below we have part of what I may call The Walls, in the vale directly below the center of Head Line, or what might be called the Zero or Null or Unnameable Vale.

The following 3 stones or groups of stones are from the same vale, which runs from near the top of Head Line down to Heart Line and then beyond. Currently there is no flowing water in this particular valley until it reaches Heart Line.

The rock seen below will soon be named, but I’m not sure what. It is prominently situated to the north of the vale’s middle, just above The Walls region. It rises up from the forest floor like an omphalos.

Manmade grouping of stones near Head Line.

Now we come to what appears to be a very important rock of Sharieland: what I originally thought might be *Eye* Rock but what I’m tempted now, in light of additional information gleaned in the meantime, to re-name Poke Rock.

The hole in the rock that goes all the way through has literally been connected with a recent poke in my right hand by a pencil at work, coupled with several jabs by thorny bushes just above Herman Park’s Eye/Poke Rock the day before. But it can also be associated with the eye in the hand, and perhaps even Second Life itself and its eye-in-hand logo.

Some additional reasons for this association:

All the pokes mentioned above — 2 in Herman Park last Tuesday and 1 at work the following day — occurred in my right hand. The palmistry lines of the right hand happens to be the one that Herman Park/Sharieland “lines” or paths seem to conform with, not the lines of the left hand.

Below we have a picture of a rock immediately behind Eye/Poke Rock from this angle, which I’m tempted to call Poke Rock and leave Eye Rock as is. Poke Rock also seems to represent a face, perhaps one in pain or agony. I believe it could represent the brief agony of the hand poke I experienced, as Eye Rock represents the poke itself. The jab is more a mirror of Eye/Poke rocks than visa versa (stronger resonance creates weaker or secondary resonance); it is merely drawing my attention to them by a small but memorable, resonant experience (the poke, itself augmented by additional, smaller ones the day before). The eye of Eye Rock, where a hole projects all the way through to the other side, is itself on a line in the rock, which also appears like a mouth. This broader perspective, where the rock becomes a face, makes the eye a dimple in the rock directly above the tangential hole instead. The face itself appears shark-like or perhaps mole-like, with a long, extended nose; small, “beady” eye; and expressionless (straight) mouth. BUT, it also could be interpreted as *pencil* shaped… hmm, maybe I should rename this Pencil Rock.

Note as well that the two rocks can be juxtaposed in photos to make the pointed end of Eye Rock superimpose on either of the two “eyes” of Poke Rock. Curiouser and curiouser once again — Herman and Frank parks always have surprises in store just around the next corner.

In contrast, Poke Rock (below photo, again) has two distinct and much wider eyes, and an open mouth. It also contains a semblance of a nose with nostrils between the eyes.

There is also the convincing appearance of nostrils in rocks on the other side of Eye Rock from Poke Rock, as if to reinforce or bolster my interpretation.

Directly above this is a rock stacking of obviously man-made origin. Have others also been draw to these rocks in the past, perhaps even connecting them with contrasting faces as I have?

Another interesting rock nearby; more pictures forthcoming tomorrow I hope. I’m going to be very tempted, I believe, to call the small, sunken area around Pencil Rock/Poke Rock the Sunk Lands or just Sunk Lands, per the St. Francis Sunklands.. We’ll see how it plays out soon enough.

What I’m calling Smiley Rock for obvious reasons, a bit downhill from Pencil Rock/Poke Rock.

But to my short story about poison ivy/oak: So I had taken the pictures seen above, including Pencil Rock, and was attempting to hike uphill from Heart Line back to Head Line so that I could follow it to the western meadow and back to my car parked beyond it. What I believe happened in the ensuing effort is that I overshot the eastern end of Head Path, going too far north and east, and ended up in a meadow with increasing amounts of poison ivy and oak as I hiked up into it, to my exasperation. It was as I attempted to dodge some of the yellowing but perhaps still potent leaves of the stuff that I accidentally poked my thumb with the aforementioned thorns from a bush or several bushes. Well, I did managed to make it up the meadow to a road running in front of Herman Mansion without further harm, only to find this sign beside it. Seems like I’m not the only one to notice the profusion of poison ivy/oak in the area. Didn’t manage to contract the rash either, but I washed my pants and socks and scrubbed my legs when returning home.

Note that lead (as in the pencil lead that poked my palm the day after this) is also a poison.