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| Painted rock I found on the roadside at the Viera Wetlands, a wildlife preserve |
Some idiots vandalized Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. I’m sure the people who did it didn’t think they were vandalizing anything. They probably imagine vandalism as an act of violence…like throwing rocks through store windows or keying someone’s car.
These vandals wrote their names on rocks and stole charcoal from an archaeological site to do it. I’m sure they thought they were being cute. And frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t draw penises.
Unfortunately, as reported in a post on the Mesa Verde park’s Facebook page, park officials have seen an increase in graffiti, vandalization, and intentional littering.
Intentional littering, you say?
The pictures attached to the post show a rock painted with #918Rocks and the Facebook logo. (There is also a picture of rock stacking, but that’s for another post.)
918Rocks appears to be where the whole painted rock craze started and it’s spread across the US if not the world. People are painting rocks and leaving them lying around for others to find.
Oh, what fun! How creative! Right?
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| Another rock found at the Viera Wetlands. At least this one was at the entrance. |
Wrong.
I didn’t mind it so much when I found a painted rock at the mall. But when I started finding painted rocks along the roads at the Viera Wetlands, I became peeved. Now I’m rather pissed.
What is it about humans that they can’t leave any spot free of their persistent self-absorption? How can a person stand in the quiet of nature, marvel (or probably not) at its beauty, find joy in the wild (apparently not enough) and think to himself, “What this place needs is a painted rock!”
You aren’t supposed to take rocks from public parks and preserves. (Do people even know this?) What makes you think you can bring one in and leave it? Much less one you’ve defaced. (That’s right. You’ve taken a perfectly nice rock and ruined it!)
Why can’t humans leave nature natural? Why do you have to put your mark all over it? Why do you always have to be saying, “I was here! Look! See? There’s my footprint!” You might as well pee on it.
Is there no place where we can let the earth be free of the human scourge?
So, paint rocks, if you must. Leave them lying around at the mall, bus stops, or by the dumpsters if you must. But stop and think about what you’re doing and where you’re doing it.
Our local and national parks and preserves aren’t your art or social media project. If I find your rocks where they don’t belong, I’m going to remove them and soak them in turpentine. (I feel like quite the curmudgeon just thinking about it.)
But seriously. Just stop.