Oakland Geology

Our species evolved from apes who came down from the trees in the late Miocene and took to walking on two feet, freeing our arms and hands for more fruitful applications. I think that first step eventually gave rise to Homo sapiens a few hundred thousand years ago. Since I gave up my car, ten years ago, I’ve become a permanent pedestrian and feel more in tune with my ancient ancestry.

Field geologists need strong legs for covering rocky ground. I try to maintain mine because they aren’t getting any younger. I have access to weight machines, which are fine for keeping the big muscles big, but legs also have joints and ligaments and lots of little muscles. They depend on good senses of balance and proprioception. Those need maintenance too!

So I’m going to try dancing on rocks, like I did as a kid. Like kids still do on the Moon Cheese Climber at Astro Circle.

The idea came to me just before I went out of town earlier this month. I was in Spokane, Washington, for the first time, attending a geoscience meeting. Every day I made sure to visit the city’s wonderful Riverfront Park.

Rocks were on my brain. And there were these rocks as big as king-size beds — as big as outcrops! — along the paths.

I had to stand on them to examine them properly.

Maybe the carousel horses inspired me, because next thing I knew I was stepping from stone to stone and feeling frisky.

When I got home, it was time to check out Lakeside Park’s boulders with a new focus. Obviously the place to go is the rock yard by the boathouse parking lot.

The stones are big and steady, and separated at challenging distances. And when the parking lot is full of skateboarders and such, rock dancers will fit right in.

There are also solo stones all over, just begging to be hopped upon, parkour style.

So, let’s dance. People standing on rocks don’t seem to alarm the birds.

And there are some real personalities among our partners the boulders.

If you see me perched on one, say hi. I’ve heard it said that when people retire, they return to the things they were doing at age twelve. And like Dylan said, if dogs run free, then why not we?

This entry was posted on 27 May 2024 at 8:01 am and is filed under Oakland boulders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.