One of the weirder series of occurrences in 2020 have been the “monoliths” appearing around the world after the discovery of the so-called Utah monolith, a metal structure placed in a remote canyon in Utah.
The monoliths have been compared to the monolith that appeared in the 1968 science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, giving rise to speculation about extraterrestrials.
Thanks to Val Caron residents Randy and Julie Legault, Greater Sudbury now has its own monolith.
Randy explains that his wife was fascinated by the reports of monoliths appearing around the world.
So on a whim, he decided earlier this week he was going to build her a monolith out of wood and some leftover roofing metal. It only took him about 45 minutes to build the monolith.
He erected the six-and-a-half foot structure in front of their Kalmo Road home.
“This morning, there were cars parked and people getting out and taking pictures, coming up and looking at it,” said Randy, who, ironically, said he’s never actually seen “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Randy also posted pictures of the monolith on the popular Facebook community message board Valley East, eliciting hundreds of comments.
He said he just built the monolith as a bit of a joke and a way to raise people’s spirits in what has been a pretty terrible year. Randy said he also enjoys decorating his property for Christmas.
“If I could lift spirits and make some people laugh, that’s what it was about,” he said. “It’s just to get some good laughs. I enjoy doing things like that.”
If you head down Kalmo Road today to try to see the monolith, you’re going to be disappointed, as it has now disappeared. Randy said before it left, the monolith left a message: “Happiness is a function of accepting what is.”
(Randy said he’s actually taken it down, and is planning to make the structure pop up in unexpected places around town, so keep an eagle eye!).
