In Focus: Retirees egg-shaped stone sculpture graces landscape near Ricketts Glen

FAIRMOUNT TWP. It sits in Mike Giambers yard on Goss Road, just off Route 118.

It is an egg-shaped fieldstone sculpture that took Giamber most of a year to build. It cant be seen from the highway you have to drive up Goss Road and get to Giambers house to view the 7-1/2-foot, 4-ton beauty.

I can see it, Giamber said when asked why he built it. Its pleasant to look at.

And when asked what, exactly it is, Giambers answer was: What do you see?

Giamber said some see a cairn which Merriam-Webster defines as a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark. Its origin is Scottish.

Others, Giamber said, see an egg-shaped pile of rocks, others a giant Easter egg. An artist may see an ephemeral rock sculpture.

For me, the egg shape represents birth, the beginning of the Appalachian Mountains that acts as our protector, Giamber said. The indigenous fieldstone I used, dating back to the beginning a half billion years ago, represents the passage of time. I call this piece, The Genesis Stone.

Giambers Genesis Stone is located on his remote property of 74 acres near Ricketts Glen State Park, where post-retirement Giamber has re-invented himself.

The location is uninterrupted, where nature and art can co-exist undisturbed, he said. Each day I look out my window where the light and the elements spontaneously change the stones visual properties color, texture and dimension.

Giamber, 61, retired at age 53 after working in Washington, D.C. for 30 years. His last job was as head of facilities and operations at the National Gallery of Art, home to many masterpieces.

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In Focus: Retirees egg-shaped stone sculpture graces landscape near Ricketts Glen