PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
JOHN BIONDO PHOTOS
The ROCK LADY
Louise “Gramma Moon” enjoys painting her iconic rocks and hiding them throughout the city of Port St. Lucie.
The latest craze in Port St. Lucie is a hide-and-seek
hunt for one of the most mundane items on the
planet — rocks. But these are not ordinary rocks
and unlike the static pet rock fad of 1975, creative
expression is motivating residents of all ages to become rock
hounds who decorate and hide their petite artworks, then
find the tokens of others thanks to a Facebook group that to
date has more than 17,000 members.
With similar numbers skyrocketing along the Treasure
Coast, there is one Port St. Lucie resident whose followers are
rocked out of this world at how she’s rockin’ the city.
Louise Moon, aka “Gramma Moon”, is a widow who
moved to the city in November to be closer to family members.
“I was the youngest of five children; my only living
sister passed away this summer — I am the only one left.”
Moon took up rock painting to occupy her time on the encouragement
of her granddaughter, Sheila Young. “She’s my
caregiver,” Moon says, And yes, that really is her surname.
“I’ve met others with the same last name, but we’re not related.
Port St. Lucie Magazine 49
It has Native American roots.”
Painted rocks have a long history in ethnography going
back to aboriginal drawings on natural stone surfaces, but
this modern day activity is part scavenger hunt, part art project
and mainly pay-it-forward acts of kindness.
“When I got here, I became familiarized with the city,” she
says. “My daughter and granddaughter showed me around
the area. In February, she began painting rocks and immediately
decided on a Gramma Moon rock. She uses pebbles
that are mostly smooth in a variety of shapes and sizes, using
acrylic paint. “Purple is my color,” Moon says. She has become
well-known for her signature half-moon. “That’s all
I paint.”
Surprisingly, her new pastime has produced health benefits
and boosted her confidence. Having depended on a walker to
get around, the motivation to get out and walk gave her the
strength to switch to a cane. Finding hidden rocks offers her
greater mobility and, overall, a more positive outlook on life.
“It’s more fun to walk looking for rocks and you don’t realize
you’re getting exercise,” she comments.
The rock movement started with a Facebook group
launched by 26-year-old Aisha Lesh in January 2016 in Port
Angeles, Wash. “This is so cool!” Lesh wrote in a FB post.
“Kindness Rocks was first but there are so many different
beginnings. Our community definitely made a wave. Thanks
for noticing us!”
In March, the city partnered with the PSL Rocks Facebook
group at a St. Patrick’s Day paint-out event where 20 prize
rocks with “PSL Rocks the City” on the bottom were hidden
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BY DEBRA MAGRANN