"I'm a retired physicist and I'm amazed," said [Nat Sanders], 71, a Dana Point resident who strolled by [Daryl Maddeaux]'s 50-yard tableau of oddly shaped rocks precariously balanced in pairs, end-on-end, along Dana Strand Beachbetween the Dana Point Headlands and the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Maddeaux and [Jozsef Toth], a stone mason who is helping promote his partner's unique artwork, are hoping to receive a commission from the Canadian government to produce a similar creation to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations next year.

Struggling against the wind and rain, Maddeaux and Toth had created about 200 of the balanced rock pairs within a few days and were attempting to make about 3,000 strung all the way down the beach to the Headlands peninsula.