Donna leads this week, and she wants to know what rocks our world…. I would say Nature’s grand design rocks my world. And Earth Day is only 9 days away, so let’s Rock with Donna!

As a child my favourite things to do when I came home from school, was climbing trees and rocks. We used to pack something to drink, a couple of sandwiches and homemade buns, and then head out for adventures. My best friend would come along, and sometimes my cat too – well, that makes two of my best friends of course.

Those were happy days to remember, and sometimes I climb all the fences and brave the cows and horses up there just to find my old playgrounds again. Now those stones don’t look that huge anymore, but they are still impressive. The funny thing is, it was not easy to climb them then – but today I might not be able to climb them at all, for other reasons… Maybe they too remember though, if I gently touch them and put my ear to the sun warm surface and listen…

Geologists have a saying – rocks remember.

– Neil Armstrong

So, I will concentrate on some beautiful rocks I have met (- the soft way…).I do remember all of these with love, be they natural, manmade or who made!

The unforgettable Pancake Rocks, New Zealand, South Island. You could not climb them and were not allowed to either. But, they made a grand and very special landscape.

Shell or rock? This is New Zealand as well. There was a whole beach with beautiful stone formations – and it was allowed to climb and bring a picnic basket too.

The Moeraki (a place to sleep by day in Maori) Boulders, Otago, NZ. They may look small, but are up to 2-3 meters in diameter, and weigh several tonnes. Scientists say it took about 5 million years to create them. The rolling waves will wear them down in the end, but we can only guess how long that will take.

In Tibet – I wondered at many things, and one of them was about how many people must have walked these stones up to the Pothala Palace. They are manmade and laid – with love.

The Azores – stone fences are a great love of mine. In the Azores, the whole land was divided with stone fences ( – or Hydrangea hedges) . They witness of hard work and are often skillfully laid. In Sweden we have a multitude of these too, especially in the south part where I live. The ice left many stones to handle for the people who once settled here. Today it is forbidden by law to remove or change old stone fences.

In Iceland there are many lavafields, or Rhauns, both young and old. It is fascinating to know – and see – how our Earth constantly changes and new constructions form, and even new land. Surtsey island was formed in an eruption starting 1963, finishing in 1967.

We always return to Iceland, and went there in 1984 after the eruption of Krafla – when the ground was still hot. Walking through the old lavafields is both amazingly beautiful, difficult and sometimes dangerous. Often they are covered in moss and small bush vegetation, and there under…might be a bottomless pit in the lava stream.

If you are lucky, you can find amazing things like this one below. And in the blazing sun and heat among the rock formations, you easily imagine creatures from millions of years ago…

Iceland, Dimmuborghir lava field. Who made...?

Join us for the fun of sharing what Rocks YOUR World! We hope you will enjoy your quest, and remember to link to Donna’s original post, and use the Lens-Artists tag so we can find you.

John made us think about Before and After last week – and what great answers we got, inspiration and eye openers. A learning post indeed.

Next week Ritva will join us again, be sure to visit her beautiful site for inspiration. If you are interested in knowing more about the Lens-Artists challenge, click here for more information.