Take A Pebble

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    Following on from yesterday's post about the meditative qualities of secular rituals and seeing my two favourite found pebbles together on the shelf; the black one from Pen Lleyn and the white from Myrtos Beach in Kefalonia, I was minded of the Jewish tradition of placing pebbles on the gravestones of loved ones. A mark of respect for the dead and to show that a visit has been made. A ritual whose origins are lost in antiquity, but continues and will probably always be observed, without direct understanding but always with devotion.
    One of my own secular rituals has always been the search for the 'perfect' pebble, a quest I know cannot be fulfilled. There is no 'perfect' pebble. The beauty is in the search. The two stones in the photograph are but moments in that. Together they make a beautiful object, but I keep looking, nevertheless.

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