It began quietly. One man, in the river, stacking rocks into unique formations. With little fanfare, the formations began to attract attention from Main Street shop owners and visitors.

And then the man was joined by another, who added to the project. And attention grew, with many people stopping along the bridge over the Patapsco River to take photographs of the rock and driftwood formations and to question their meaning.

Teddy Betts, of Ellicott City, began stacking the river rocks. He does it to see what kind of activity takes place in the river, and also as a statement about the beauty of the surrounding environment.

"I'm a stream walker for the Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway," Betts said. "I do a lot of hiking along the river, and in the summer, I put on my water shoes and hike in the river. I started stacking the rocks in the river a while ago, but this is the first time I've done it in this spot."

Betts said often, kids will knock down the rocks hours after he's stacked them. Or a storm will blow through and destroy the formations. That doesn't seem to be the case in Ellicott City, where the formations have been embraced.

"I think the rocks really enhance the beauty of Main Street," said Joan Eve, the owner of Joan Eve, along Main Street. "I just think it's so unique and wonderful."

Many who have made the trek to see the rocks have equated them to rock formations found in other places, including Hawaii and Barbados. Many cultures have used stacked rocks to honor their gods, Betts said, quick to point out he was not the person to "invent" the practice.

"It's not a new thing, the stacking of rocks. But there's something delicate about balancing the stones ... sometimes you find the sweet spot right away, and sometimes it takes a little more work," Betts said. ''I do them as a form of meditation ... it's sort of spiritual, being out in the river and stacking the rocks. I do it to honor God for the beautiful surroundings we've got here."

Bob Barker, also of Ellicott City, has joined Betts' efforts and also said he does it as a form of meditation.

"It's a peaceful thing to do," he said. "It helps me find balance within myself. There's something about the atmosphere out here that is just really good for being with nature."

Barker said he got the idea to stack the rocks after seeing other rock formations along the Patapsco -- ones he believes were probably done by Betts -- and decided to come out and give it a try once he saw the rocks on Main Street. He has added to Betts' original idea by pulling driftwood out of the river and balancing the wood with the rocks.

"I figured I'd try to use a piece of wood and see how that worked," he said. "To be honest, I don't know how some of them balance."

Betts, an Anne Arundel County school teacher who is off for the summer, said he is always amazed to see what happens when he stacks rocks.

"I come back and check them several weeks or months after I've stacked them," he said. "Sometimes they last for hours, sometimes months. But I've never seen anything like this before."

---

user comments (0)