Originally created to keep a crew of energetic, competitive boys engaged on relatively tame walks along the rocky beaches, the Smoothest Rock Contest is one of our Maine traditions. The concept is simple: as contestants explore the incredibly scenic cobble stone beaches, they sort through the kazillions of beautiful granite stones tumbled round and smooth by the North Atlantic to find the smoothest one of them all. It is a ritual we have repeated with Riley, Treat, and Josh on each of our visits for the last 16 years.
Sometimes the judging is honor system, sometimes it involves voting for the smoothest rock not your own, and sometimes there is an impartial judge. That's how we did it today down at the beach at the bottom of the Wonderland Trail, even though 2 of the 3 original boys, now grown to men, were off hiking on another part of the island.
A cool breeze blew off the ocean under bright blue skies as Heidi, Courtney, Emily, Victor, Emily, and I all dropped our entries into a hat for Bill to judge blindly. Taking his time to run his fingers carefully over each of our submissions, he considered them rock, by silky smooth rock. At last he had it narrowed down to two, one traditionally flat and oval, and the other a prism-shaped piece of fine-grain, speckled black granite with a little dimple that perfectly fit my thumb.
"The winner is..." he announced, "this one!" And he held out my black triangle.
Silly as it was? I felt a bit of a thrill-- I've never won the contest before. After a little cheer and a friendly postmortem comparison of smooth rocks, we headed home where I could not wait to report my victory to Josh and Treat.
"It's only because I wasn't there," Josh joshed.
"Maybe so," I shrugged. "Too bad for you."
Congratulations! Maybe it can live on your desk at school (J, obviously).
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