“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
“That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
“And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
“And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. …”
I was going to make some pompous observations about old-time walls meant to clarify property lines, not keep people out or prevent neighborly conversations. But then I read a merciless spoof of bloggers trying to be profound. So I decided just to show you how cleverly these old dry walls were built to last, smaller stones tucked into gaps to keep higher ones balanced.
The spoof was in a strange, delightful novel called Winter, by Ali Smith. And although I bristled at the unproofread mess of her fake blog post, I recognized the temptation to invent or reinterpret something from childhood because … who will know the difference?
But I must stay honest, like the old, sturdy dry walls. They were not the kind that blow over in a high wind as the one in this 2020 story: “A portion of [the] border wall blew over from gusty winds Wednesday, falling on the Mexican side of the border.
“The newly installed panels were a part of an ongoing project to improve existing parts of the wall in Calexico, California. Agent Carlos Pitones of the Customs and Border Protection in El Centro, California, told CNN that the new concrete foundation had not yet cured when the wall panels fell down amid windy conditions.”
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Easy to poke fun. But dang those walls look good! And they will be here long after the wits have faded away.
They’ve already lasted generations.
I LOVE stone walls built without any mortar. So elegant!!!
I’m grateful to people who keep theirs clear of weeds so we can all enjoy them.
Not only are stone walls beautiful and functional, they serve to remove rock from the ground that can then be cultivated for gardening and growing food. Growing up in Rockland County, we were all acquainted with the need to do this.
In the fall, we would stick fallen branches and sticks into the gaps in the wall and then cover them with fallen leaves to make a long “fort”. Many happy hours.
Oh, I love that memory, Sibby! Thank you!
That reminds me of the wall in the movie, Shawshank redemption.
Now I have to see that movie!
Oh gosh, it’s a classic favorite of mine.
I was going to say the same thing!! Great movie and I love that wall!
Oh , dear, I am so out of it! I better order the movie.
Me tooooooo!!!
I love the stone walls along farms in England. In the Texas countryside there is a barbed wire fence with cowboy boots on each post of all different sizes. Wish I’d taken a photo!
That sounds cool!
Thanks, I loved it!
The rock walls we grew up scrambling over in Suffern were pretty loosely stacked, because a lot of them were “glacial erratics” that had been rounded as they were pushed along over rocky terrain, and being round, they didn’t stack neatly into a rectangular cross section, the sides were sloping, and they tended to crumble if you walked along them watching out for copperheads.
I think our grownups had a bad attitude to copperheads. That is, see one, kill one. But how would I be around my own children? Maybe the same.
Wonderful post! Great photos of stone walls. I so love to see a stone wall,they are a piece of art.
It’s definitely art, a vanishing art, I fear.