Did you ever see a round rock? Not round 2D like a pancake. Round 3D like a perfect sphere. Well I hadn’t, so I was intrigued when some friends told me about a beach where you can find them. So was Oola.
The place is Murdock Beach, (sometimes known as Round Rock Beach) off of Hwy 112, down a rough dirt/mud road to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Being that Oola and I are novices, my friends kindly showered us with examples.

Here is a “round rock”.
It is called a “concretion” or a “nodule”. What happened is when a marine critter died, something about it created a chemical reaction in the mud surrounding its remains and the mud hardened. There is a fossilized sea creature inside this rock. Here is a youtube video to explain the phenomenon better.
My friend artist/quiltmaker Diane Williams found this one.


You can see that if you take the spherical part from the matrix, you would have something that looks like a pitted avocado. And that is what Pamela Hastings showed me, along with something that was created by a creature with different ambitions.

That rock on the left would make a great head for one of her dolls.
Actor and sometimes teacher in musical theater at Cornish (and Pamela’s little bro), Hugh Hastings found these.

There are more stones that look like “hot dogs in a bun” that hold fossilized items such as reeds.
My new friend, artist Katie Yeager found these spheres.

Then a few minutes later she displayed these with an explanation:
Here we have two balls, a tit, a penis circumcised and a penis uncircumcised. (What is art without sex? Nothing, I tell you, Nothing!)
Sound of throat clearing — Oola and I love rocks that have messages or drawings on/in them. She found these strange drawings all over the place.

We didn’t find any pictures of Jesus’ face but this reminded me a little of octopus paintings from Minoan Crete.

If you click on the image to enlarge it, you may even see the artists!
BTY. Murdock Beach is part of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). A sign indicates that rocks are catch and release.
PS Warning, the dirt/mud road contains surprise whoop-dee-doos, so unless you have a FWD, take is slow. Take it slow anyway, and enjoy!
PPS Warning. Check your tide chart or wear your Wellingtons. There is no beach at high tide.