My Wishing Rock: I'm a collector

See what I found today!!

Beautiful pebbles, a petrified chipping, a BIRD POINT!! and a dehydrated toad.........magical, brill stuff!!

AND..........The MOST beautiful snakeskin.......all in one piece!

Everything will go into a POCKET MUSEUM, displayed and dated, and be there forever, and a day.........

I have been a collector since I was a child....................starting with searching for wishing rocks on the nearby beach.

When you found one that could nestle in the palm of your hand, you squeezed it until it became warm. Then you closed your eyes tight and sent a wish to someone you love.

It always worked!

Then, on my fifth birthday, searching for wishing rocks, I found a piece of golden amber, lying amidst the black and white pebbles, and that started it for me. I was off and away.........and have kept those two things, and thousands more, to the present day. Here's what I wrote about that eventful day:

On the day of my fifth birthday, Monday, July 14, a week before we broke up for the long summer holiday, I was really surprised when my dad, not my grandma, met me at the end of the school day. Dad had never picked me up from school before.

He was in his driver’s uniform so I knew he’d come straight from work. My stomach turned over – was something wrong? Was Grandma ill? Or, Mum? Was she ok?

Standing by the rusty iron fence, Dad smiled when he saw some of the children rush out of the school yard, up to the street corner, and turn and slide down back towards school, skidding on the cobble road, sending up a stream of yellow sparks from their hob-nailed boots. Then he took my hand and we walked together in the afternoon sun towards the harbor. Dad said we were going pebbling, pebbling on Lariggan Beach. Just Dad and me. Pebbling. On Lariggan Beach. After school. Could it get any better than that? I felt so special, and knew in my bones that something magical was about to happen. It was, after all, my birthday treat.

And what a memorable and lifetime treat it turned out to be.

We walked hand in hand on the cobbled street to the Fradgan, past Uncle Steve and Aunty Flo’s white cottage, past the tall icehouse towering over the small inner harbor, and crossed over to the open fish market. We reached the small stone bridge by the Fisherman’s Institute at the end of Newlyn pier, where the Coombe River ran into the sea. Dad lifted me up so I could see the swans and the seagulls dipping their heads into the refreshing, bubbling blend of fresh and salt water.

We walked around the corner by the Austin and Morris Garage onto the seafront, then down the smooth, worn granite steps, onto the beach. The sky was bright blue, and the sun a shimmering yellow. St. Michael’s Mount, way off in the distance, looked very majestic, its fairy-tale castle catching the late afternoon sun that was setting behind the Mousehole granite cliffs.

The tide was out and the large, smooth rocks, black and grey and white, were wet and shining in the late afternoon sun. As the greeny-blue water lapped back and forth, herring gulls squabbled as they looked for food scraps.

We stepped over the pebbles, making sure we didn’t step on the strands of slimy brown and yellow seaweed. Dad reached in his pocket and brought out two of his OLD HOLBORN tobacco tins.

“Here,” he said, giving me one, “take this and fill it. Just wishing rocks, mind you.” I was thrilled. I’d never had an OLD HOLBORN tin before. With a broad smile and a knowing twinkle in his eye, he said, “Bet I fill mine first.”

The competition was on. We walked slowly along the seashore, and we looked and we touched and we talked and we collected. The beach pebbles were so endearing, small, round, smooth, and warm to the touch. Soon my tin was full of tiny wishing rocks and heart-shaped pebbles that I wanted to take home to show my mum. I so wanted to tell her and Jimmie that I filled my OLD HOLBORN tin before Dad filled his.

Just as we were walking towards the granite steps, I spotted something different. There, lying with all the pebbles was a bright yellow object. It didn’t look like any of the other pebbles. It was so different from all the others, more like the picture I’d seen at school of a small slice of pineapple. What was it?

It stared up at me, wanting, I felt, badly to be picked up, wanting to be touched and admired. By me, Johnny Paull.

And that’s what I did..........I bent over, picked it up, held it in the palm of my hand, and touched it. It was a magical moment. It was lighter than a pebble. Wide-eyed, I showed my dad. Because I knew he knew everything, I asked: “What’s this, Dad?” He looked down at it, smiled, and then, half-closing his eyes, frowned.

Dad had no idea what I’d found. “Dunno. Never seen anything like that before. Good, though, isn’t it?”

Funny, because I thought he had seen everything there was to see. I couldn’t believe that he had never ever seen anything like the yellow thingy before – and he’d been to the beach over a thousand thousand times in his life.

But Dad did know it was different, and, therefore, very, very special.“Take it home and show your ma. She might know.”

I stared at my orangey-yellow, rock-like, magical find. It looked soft. Not wanting to scratch it, I wrapped it up in my white hanky and put it in my right-hand pocket – it didn’t seem right to mix such a special thingy in the OLD HOLBORN tin with the other pebbles I’d found. My dad took my hand and we made our way back home. As I walked up the very steep hill, I kept feeling the OLD HOLBORN treasure tin in one pocket, and checking the lumpy hanky in the other.

I KNEW I’d found something very special. I KNEW it was lying on the beach waiting for me to come along and find it. I KNEW it was a special day. I was excited. My discovery made my head glow. It was something that I KNEW belonged just to me – and would, forever.

When we reached Treveneth Crescent I quickly skipped up the back garden path, past the three gooseberry bushes (one for Jimmie, one for Charles, and one for me), pushed opened the glass door, and ran straight into the kitchen. Mum and Grandma were standing by the white enameled cooker, waiting for the kettle to boil. Charles was sleeping in mum’s arms.

“Mum, Mum, Grandma, see what I found. It’s brilliant.”

I took out my OLD HOLBORN tin and showed them what I’d found on the beach. I knew then by the look on my mum’s and my grandma’s faces that the yellow rock I had found was something very special. And I found it on my birthday, too. Mum said softly, “THAT beautiful yellow rock was waiting for you. Just for you.”

It’s a treasure. A real treasure. Put it in one of your OXO treasure tins, Johnny, and keep it there, forever.

Forever. You hear me? It’s treasure. Forever and a day.”

and I did and since then collect and collect and collect.........

Love finding owl pellets.....

Rocks and and fossils.....(vertebrae, The Badlands, South Dakota, 1971)

and snails

and petrified wood

I collect tins and boxes....

And add things I find.......

And store everything I find........everything.........in tins......in boxes.......cupboards, on shelves........in my pocket

Can't stop doing it.......just love it!

'See what I found!'

Yesterday, June 6th, was the last day at Mountain View, my local elementary school, where I have volunteered for the past year. August, the second graders move to another school, NorthEast Elementary (3-5 grade).Many of the second graders' parents came to hear me give my last story to the kids. I was given 'thank you, Mr. Paull' notes and asked if I would see them at their new school.
I was asked me about my passion for the great outdoors. 'What started you off as a collector, Mr. Paull?"

Briefly, I described my childhood and the outings to the beach and countryside with my mum and dad. (described above and in more detail in my book, Through My Eyes). I gave each student a wishing rock, and, holding my wishing rock tightly in my hand, wished them well

Then, last evening I received this email:

Hi Mr. Paull,

THe Merrick Family would like to thank you very much for the special rock collection (from a rock star!) you gave Madelyn. That is so thoughtful. They are so beautiful and we adults are enjoying them just as much.

We really appreciate all that you do with the kids and the inspiration you provide. Madelyn looks forward to every day you come to school. We feel very fortunate to have you as our neighborhood star and the idea that we will see you at Northeast. You are very special person and we appreciate you and all that you offer. See you in two weeks at the PACE center.

Thank you again,

The Merrick Family

JUNE 7th

So, this morning I had the idea that I would create a post about what I collect each and every day.......and thus keep a record of what catches my eye each day.

Starting with this morning, at 5:10 am......I opened my front door to see what was happening outside before the sun was up - and to let Matilda sniff the morning air - I spotted a big, fat worm, wriggling on the pathway. Strange, I thought. I picked it up and saw it had been bitten half (by a magpie, I bet). I gave it a gentle spray of cold water and took it to my wormery............there, it will make new friends and grow a new tail. I hope.

A little further down the path was the MOST beautiful magpie feather, which I picked up and which now has pride of place on my desk. I think it was a peace offering from the magpie who probably feels guilty chomping a worm in half.

As I downloaded this picture from my computer, I had another thought............what a twit I am! Now that I have my very fancy Iphone , which, I have discovered, has a dead good camera, I can take pictures of things WHERE I find them.................'course I can! So, from this day on, every collectable thingy will be photographed in situ! How about that?

Monday June 10.......when, I hear, the temperature will/may reach 100 and break all existing records, I intend to walk and see what I find (the weekend was rather frenetic as we celebrated Jeannine's appointment to North East Elementary, the neighborhood school just down the road from our home. NOW I will be able to continue my work with the children moving from Mountain View).

OK, out I go........more later, and pictures, when I return. Here, though, is a picture showing a spider, a black widow spider, I found in my car......

I collected some black widow eggs I found in a school library..........a week later,
I saw this IN MY CAR!!
A black widow had made her home in my dashboard!