Investigations by Bicycle: The Listening Stone

Admittedly this spring/summer, I have been a bit obsessed with kickboxing (and I apologize to those I have bored with my periodic tales of this current fascination), and although I do ride my bike to/from class and on shorter rides around town, I haven't been riding as many longer distances because by the time I finish the hour or so of intensity in the class, I'm pretty wiped out (and I know that on several days, I'll have a second round to deal with later in the day). However, there are a few spots I've wanted to check out by bike that I still intend to get to before the weather cools again (which, honestly sounds fabulous at the moment - ahh, cool weather).

This past weekend, Longmont had a local annual happening, Rhythm on the River, during which community folks come out to participate in a festival-like event. It includes music, performances, various visual art, food, and items for sale - and of course, the duck races that I've spoken about in  prior summers.  Unfortunately, we got a late start to the ROTR, and many of the things to see had been closed up by the time we arrived Saturday evening. As we were walking the multi-use trail along the river though, I remembered one of those spots I've been wanting to visit, so it seemed an opportune time to check things out.

The group of Listening Stones

An art piece known as the Listening Stone is set up off a portion of the trail where this festival takes place, and on its opposite side has a spot to sit and, well, listen (hence its name, I would suppose). I have been told in the past that if one is to sit inside this spot, it sounds like the ocean. Intrigued by this bit of information (and being a displaced beach bum myself), I had to see if it was true. Could a babbling river sound like the ocean while sitting inside this special area?

Side view of the Listening Stones

I wandered just off the trail to the rock, as Sam and his friend who had accompanied us wondered what in the world I was doing. As I explained my sudden veering off, I took a seat in the rock. We all took turns sitting inside the giant stone in fact, and unfortunately, I was a bit sad to discover, that it definitely does not sound like the crashing waves of the ocean, but rather sounds like... you guessed it, a river babbling. Turns out, that its purpose has absolutely nothing to do with sounding like the ocean, but is rather set up as an amplification of the nearby river. It's intended to focus the viewer/participants' senses on the environment, which actually made far more sense to me, rather than it sounding like an ocean.

Sitting spot in the Listening Stone

If you live locally and have yet to discover this spot (though I may be the only one who's taken so long to experience this art piece), I think it's worth checking out. It's incredibly peaceful, and I can see how it would be easy to get lost in the environment, as is the intention of the work. If you aren't local, have you discovered or investigated a spot in your area that is of interest?