Chipping away the years

For those of you who don't come to this school, we have this thing called "The Rock" here at Northwestern. It's this obnoxiously large, obstrusive object that sits in a small plaza. We worship it, paint it for events and organizations, and proudly brag about it when it comes up in conversation. Yesterday, there was a group of students chipping away at the layers of paint. I asked one girl who they were and she said it was an independent study and they called themselves "The Rock Excavation Organization." I mean, sure. Regardless, I had mixed feelings about what they were doing. On one hand, I'm really curious to see what the actual color of the rock is. Plus, chippingaway with a chisel and hammer is rather liberating and incredibly fun. It was a beautiful sight to see the various layers of the rock like one can count rings on tree trunks. On the flip side, it's The Rock. There are years and years of Northwestern students on that rock. Chipping away at it and putting the paint chips away in a large bag is like stripping away all the character that makes The Rock The Rock. But they make for great pictures, don't they?