Relaxing rocks
<p>Byron Smith has been turning river rocks into art at Corbin Park in Post Falls as a way to mourn his father, who died two weeks ago.</p>
Bryon Smith, a construction worker from Post Falls, has taken on a construction project of his own.
Smith has been busy turning river rocks into art at Corbin Park in Post Falls, using a stacking technique to build statues. He began the project a little more than a month ago, he said, but about two weeks ago some kids toppled them.
Since then, to relax and mourn the loss of his father who died about two weeks ago, he has built 75-100 rock statues - he was unsure exactly how many.
"I want to dedicate all of this to him," Smith said, referring to his father.
He said he was unable to attend his father's funeral since it was held in Arizona, so this was his way of grieving. His father, Brian A. Brown, died of a heart attack at 64.
Smith said he began rock stacking around 20 years ago, describing a time he and some friends had constructed a bunch of rock statues and put candles on top for a wedding.
"It was such a beautiful ceremony - it was awesome," Smith said.
His favorite of this project is one he calls "Big guy in a little boat," because it resembles a man fishing from a boat.
To continue working on the statues and in an effort to keep anyone from knocking them over right away, Smith is camping by the river and hopes more people will come enjoy his artwork.
"I like that everybody comes down here and takes pictures of it," Smith said. "I like that everybody else likes it."