Not far from where I work, the weirdest thing has been going on for the past few days.
I first noticed it two days ago. I drove past some rocks – actually a very large outcropping – and it was a strange yellow color. There was the characteristic toluene odor of plastic model cement, and I noticed that the rocks had a plastoc appearance and sheen. It looked as if some kid had just assembled the Giant Rock Outcropping from his Aurora Super-Size Monster Customizing Kit, and just hadn’t gotten around to painting it yet.
The next day, the kids were there to do the painting, apparently. Three or four guys with trucks were putting up littler “dams” on the rock. I had to ask them what they were doing.
“We’re taking casts of the rock.”
“Why?”
“So we can cast other ones from it.”
“For what?”
“We’ere a company that makes artificial rocks.”
He left, so I couldn’t find out for who. Movie studios, maybe. Theme Parks, perhaps. People who want fake rocks in their backyards or basements.
Evidently it’s more desirable to find a real rock and to copy it, rather than making up your own fake rock from scratch.