I suspect it has been there for thousands of years.

But maybe for only a few hundred. Or less, I guess.

I know it's been there at least thirty.

You can tell where it came from. There's a steep embankment of limestone hanging up on the east side of the valley, the slopes below littered with the talus of chunks that fell off as the cliffs were eroded. But this chunk, this huge rock, happened to be shaped like a nice cube, and rolled farther into the valley floor than any others.

There aren't even any that are close.

Sometime later a trail was laid up the valley, probably the Cherokee trail. Segments of which were later paved to accommodate the automobile. And some time in the following decades, someone noticed that the face of the rock facing the highway made a great natural billboard.

The paint layers on that east side must be an inch thick by now.

The first message I recall seeing painted on the rock was a derogatory comment directed towards the collegiate rivals just across the state border.

Who would have to pass by said rock en route to, and from, the hotly contested football and basketball games.

The out-of-state students would often sneak down across the border, and change the message.

But others used The Rock. There was a period when obscenities were common, and soon the entire rock would be painted over, a dull grey or brown. Some used it for birthday or anniversary wishes.

During the Vietnam War, it carried anti-war slogans.

After September 11, it became a memorial, decorated with a huge American flag and remained untouched for a long time.

But soon it was carrying birthday wishes and bragging years of graduation classes.

We noticed last month it had become political again, sporting a huge Obama logo. Presumably painted before the election.

Well, yes it was. In fact, the Obama logo was painted on it the night of October 26th.

I know this because, in preparation of holiday travels, the wife asked me to download all the photos from her camera onto the computer. Photos from her trip across the southeastern US, and shots eldest son and his girlfriend had taken when they borrowed the camera for an Obama rally.

And there, in her camera's memory card, taken at night by flash, is a series of photos of The Rock.

With its brand-spanking new, still wet, coat of Obama paint.

And eldest son standing beside it, arms proudly crossed.

Next to his artistic creation.