75 Days: Disney Rocks

Disney Rocks, courtesy of Blog Mickey's wonderful photography

I'm not saying Disney rocks here, though it does, what I am writing about are the rocks in Disney parks. Blog Mickey put up some very nice photos of some new rocks emerging at the entrance to Tomorrowland. They are in the process of being painted, it would seem. They are very nice, and because they are new, I'm sure I'll be compelled to photograph them extensively in October. But that's really just a hook to what I really want to write about.

Our family has a running argument about the Disney rocks. It gets heated. It did just yesterday as I mentioned I was planning to write this blog post. You see, way back on our first trip to Walt Disney World together, a graduation present trip with my parents and sister in the summer of 1993, Lisa asked the fateful question while standing in a queue (I think for Big Thunder Mountain).

"Are these rocks real?" she said.

I think I just looked at her kind of slack-jawed. My dad was even at a loss for words, a rarity. When we regained our composure, much mockery ensued, and continues to this day. I thought it was cute, I gotta say. I figured she was caught up in the Disney Magic and was Believing in the the man-made boulders. But as time has gone by, Lisa has put forth an interesting argument. She says that since the man-made boulders are made of some sort of cement-like material, and that cement is made from basically lime (a rock) and sand (also small rocks) that Disney rocks are indeed "real" rocks. We, on the other hand (me, my dad, my son), argue that since they are man-made, they aren't "real."

It's an argument on the scale of chicken vs. egg, of Coke vs. Pepsi, of Less Filling vs. Tastes Great. It comes up whenever a rock (real or man-made) is around, which is pretty often. We'll be walking on a trail on Grandfather Mountain and John will wonder aloud whether those rocks are real. Then it begins. There's yelling. And laughing. And sometimes pouting. But it's one of those things that ties our family together, and I'm happy for it never to be resolved.