In the village where I grew up many houses were surrounded by gravel. I loved the sound it made as you walked over it, and I loved to look at the different pebbles, especially when the rain brought out the colors. I knew that all the different kinds had come from different places. I was an avid reader of books about collecting rocks and minerals- but the Dutch polders were a frustrating place to live for a would-be rock collector...
I always imagined selecting a small area, say 50 by 50 cm, and draw a map of this, learn the position of each seperate pebble, and follow the changes over time. The world was way to large and complicated that you could hope to ever know it completely- but to know a small part of it really well, that would a start.
