By Chris Spangler
I always have loved “detecting.” Whether it is by reading a murder mystery, going on scavenger hunts or playing “Clue,” there’s just something about trying to figure out a whodunnit.
Now that I have “retired” and have more time on my hands, I’ve gotten into genealogy, trying to unravel the mystery of what happened to my maternal grandfather’s family in a German colony in the Bolshevik- and Stalin-era Russia. I also hope to try geocaching and metal detecting, and I just ordered two neodymium magnets with gear for magnet fishing. Sure, I’ll likely reel in beer cans and rusty lures, but the search for treasure most often is the best part of the journey.
Recently, I joined a Facebook group that takes the love of the hunt even further.
Fort Atkinson Area Rock Hunters’ members of all ages enjoy painting designs on rocks and then hiding them throughout the community for unsuspecting passersby to discover. The finders then post a photo of them to #FortRocks before either returning them to their current resting place or hiding them somewhere new.
Kim McDarison, Fort Atkinson Online’s reporter-publisher, located a cute M&M-design rock last weekend on Fort Atkinson’s Main Street bridge. Affixed to the back was a sticker that read: “Keep or re-hide, you decide, but make sure to post a picture on Facebook to “Fort Atkinson Rocks.”
I, too, have been getting glimpses of painted rocks in recent months. My friends and I have a couple favorite places at which to walk their dogs, get out of isolation and socialize during COVID-19, in particular, Dorothy Carnes County Park. But when the snow was melting or if it’s muddy out, we’ve headed over to the paved Glacial River Trail that runs through Fort Atkinson’s south side.
Apparently, that is a favorite route for rock-and-rollers, too, for it’s where we’ve been spying beautifully painted stones placed alongside the trail.
In early spring, we found a brightly colored rock tucked along the bridge over Allen Creek as we strolled south on the trail in the Town of Koshkonong. Then a week or so ago, we found two others … a pine tree-decorated rock resting on a bed of green moss and an Easter egg-colored rock sitting in the heart of a metal sculpture built during a Fort Atkinson Welding Rodeo years ago.
That was apropos, since coming upon these beautiful rocks is not unlike discovering a long-lost Easter egg lying in the grass.
Now, I don’t know if they were placed by any of the 569 members of the Fort Atkinson Area Rock Hunters since there were no stickers on them. However, to whomever put them there, they made my day!
And isn’t that the idea in the first place? To bring a smile to the faces of perfect strangers who then pass them along to evoke even more smiles?
Often, these rocks contain inspirational messages such as “Relax,” “Love,” “You’re Amazing” or “You’re beautiful.” Whose spirits wouldn’t get a lift when coming upon an unexpected note like that?
From all the folks like me who get a big kick out of “detecting” these stones to all the folks who get a big kick out of painting and hiding, them … thank you.
Truly, you all rock!
Chris Spangler, a former longtime Fort Atkinson journalist, is a regular contributor to Fort Atkinson Online.
Above two: an Easter egg-colored rock sits in the heart of a metal sculpture built during a Fort Atkinson Welding Rodeo years ago.
Journalist Chris Spangler and friends find a pine tree-decorated rock resting on a bed of green moss.
Area trails offer COVID-19 safe exercise with the added intrigue of finding decorated rocks.
A rock waits to be discovered.
Journalist Chris Spangler and friends visit the Glacial River Trail that runs through Fort Atkinson’s south side. (Above photos by Chris Spangler.)
A rock decorated like an M&M sits on a windowsill after it was found by Fort Atkinson Online reporter Kim McDarison on the Main Street bridge. It has since been placed in a new spot within the community. Happy hunting! Kim McDarison photo.
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