Nature as sculptor at the southernmost tip of the African continent

Nature truly is beautiful, if you give yourself time to become the still observer and cultivate the perception to appreciate that beauty. A busy life overwhelmed with duties can obstruct the view, even if you’re living in paradise. But if you’re able to find a peaceful moment or cultivate a tranquil lifestyle, then you will have time to “stop and smell the roses” as the saying goes.

I don’t see many roses on my journey along the south coast of Africa, but I do take the time to stop and admire the rocks. The African continent, large mass of rock that it is, does have some fascinating facets and I share some of those here today from the village of Arniston very near the southernmost tip of Africa.

It takes a combination of powerful natural forces to mold or sculpt these rocks, by the look of them. Such power is more than we mere humans could conjure if we were to attempt a similar work of art. Add to that the time factor, and we immediately pale in comparison to the finest artist of them all – Mother Nature.

It takes perhaps thousands of years for the Indian ocean to weather away the edge of the African continent and create these fascinating shapes in the rock surface. The holes and pockets embedded in the rock surface are truly a mystery to me, though I’m sure some geologists could explain these fascinating features.

All I can do is gaze upon them in wonder at the power and glory of the elements that created such a faceted finished product. Of course it’s not finished yet, since this work in progress will continue to be sculpted by the wind and waves for centuries still to come. So we can only come along in our little window of time and admire the work as it is up until now.

The eternal sculptor has eroded this rock for aeons and will continue for perhaps just as long after we’re gone. Nevertheless, the current state of the art is a beauty to behold. I just love these intricate and busy surfaces with their holes that look like windows to the other side.

I took a look into the little cave pockets formed by the elements and you will be surprised to know that I found something quite unexpected hidden in one of them. There was a brass plaque mounted on the back wall of an alcove right beside and just above the crashing waves nearby. It looks like someone had posted a memorial plaque for a deceased relative, like you might find on a grave.

Maybe the departed relative enjoyed visiting this rocky promontory overlooking the ocean. Or maybe the living relative deposited the ashes of their departed loved one into the ocean at this point. I can only guess. But there it was, in a place where you wouldn’t expect to see anything at all. So today I have brought the departed soul back to life, whomever they may be, perhaps just for a moment, via this post.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that the plaque was mounted here in January 2011, coming up for twelve years ago. In a few days it will be the anniversary of their departure – the soul who is being commemorated by the plaque. This just goes to show that you never know what you might find if you simply go exploring, even in the most unexpected places.

Life is full of mysteries and although this may not be one of the bigger ones, life itself could be seen as one great mystery, especially when you consider that it comes within the bookends called birth and death. These two features alone are two of the greatest mysteries known to humanity. How does a new living person emerge out of the womb of a mother? And where do they go when they leave the once living body behind in the end? There is still much that remains unknown to the mass of civilization, even if a few enlightened ones actually know the answers of have personal experience that they can consciously remember.

Anyway, these awe-inspiring sculpted rock formations and the hidden plaque that they contained, certainly led me to such deep contemplations about the ultimate mystery of life and beyond. Nature supports life, and although we as individuals come and go in the blink of an eye compared to the time scale of nature, still life goes on and is always present upon this supportive earth planet. Entire ice ages may have passed and these very rocks at the sea shore may have once been totally submerged by the sea at previous times in the grand freezing and thawing of the ice caps. Or they may have been miles from the ocean, which now laps at their base.

It makes me feel quite insignificant and yet paradoxically we are all most significant because the parts are what makes up the whole and are therefore as important as the whole. You can’t have the one without the other. That’s how nature appears to be designed, if you believe in a designer of course. Or is it all random, like the carving and sculpting of the shapes on this rock by the blind elements and the time factor? After all, there is nothing attractive about the rock formations here. It’s only the eye of the observer that finds subjective beauty in the harmonious shapes and patterns. I hope that you find as much beauty in them as I do.

(photos my own)