The Big Rock

By Marilyn Claus

I’m not exactly sure when this story was written, but it must have been in the 70’s, back in the days of the typewriter.  You won’t find this story on any dusty shelves but mine, as it was written by my mother for a college class. 

 

I took many hikes out to the Big Rock in the Morton Arboretum during my childhood.  At that time, the spot was not well marked, so we were usually the only ones on the trail.  Once at the rock, we would scramble to the top and think about how this huge boulder was dropped in that spot by a long-ago glacier that was pushing its way across the land.  Imagine how long it sat unseen by human eyes.   Imagine all the generations of people who stumbled upon this rock in the past.

This little work of historical fiction imagines just that.  Told in three parts, from the points of view of three different children from past centuries, the story examines how different our lives are from those of our predecessors, yet also how like them we are.  

The first part tells the1765 story of Dreaming Dove and begins with her lying on the big rock in the sun, feeling the spirit of the rock embrace her.  She had little time to rest though, since her clan was busily preparing for the cold season ahead.  Besides that, her brother’s naming ceremony was coming up, so there was extra food to prepare.  She had to sew leggings from softened deerskin, gather moss to line her baby brother’s rabbit skin coverings, collect firewood, and grind corn.  Dreaming Dove dearly loved her family, her clan, and her home near the big rock.

The second part jumps to 1860, where a little German girl named Maria lives in a cabin near the big rock with her family.  It was Saturday, so she didn’t have school, but there was plenty of work to do to prepare for her baby brother’s christening.  There would be potato salad, headcheese, pfeffernusse, and kuchen.  It was a beautiful fall day, and in the afternoon she had a little time to go outside.  She climbed over the fence, and ran out to the big rock that was out past the woodpile.  As she sat atop the rock watching the clouds drift past, she thought about how lucky she felt to be in this new land and wondered about the Indian children who used to play there.

Fast forward a little over a hundred years, to present day.  A little girl named Carolyn is excited to be going with her Grandma to the Morton Arboretum for a walk.  After finding Parking Lot 14, they get out to walk on the Big Rock Trail.  Once there, Carolyn climbs up on the rock and she and Grandma talk about the Indians who lived and hunted right on that land.  While watching the clouds drift by, they talk about girls a generation before having to play and climb wearing skirts.  They also talked about how much fun her little cousins Baptism party was going to be that weekend.  Carolyn feels so lucky to be living in the present day and age.

And so we see that while the particulars of day to day life have changed, sometimes drastically, little girls still dream, still celebrate with their families, and still find joy in nature.  I think Dreaming dove, Maria, and Carolyn would be good friends!