As millions of Egyptians yell for their elected president to hand over his authority, I’m grateful on this 4th-of-July-eve that we still have a working mechanism in this country for the peaceful transfer of power and I wonder at the various ways people have decided in the course of history that one person or another will get to make the decisions.

The Scots have used various methods, including the sword and the bludgeon. This is the anniversary of the day in 1996 when Scottish people learned that they would be getting their precious “Stone of Destiny” back.

And here I thought “Stone of Scone” was the way a dyslexic barista refers the 2-day old pastry at Caribou.

But no, it seems The Stone of Scone is an actual rock that royal people have to sit on when they get crowned. So much for the comforts of rank. But whether the current stone is really the stone of legend and lore is open to question, since it has been stolen and moved back and forth over the border that separates Scotland and England. That’s a lot of travel for a chunk of Earth that weighs over 300 pounds. But it might have even more stamps on its passport if it is, in fact, “Jacob’s Pillow” stone from the Bible, as some have said.

Or maybe it’s a meteorite and is not of this Earth at all.

For a rock this thing has a remarkably complicated history. In addition to being stonenapped at least once, several decoy versions are rumored to exist in various places. The original perching place of kings and queens might truly be in Edinburgh Castle waiting to be transported back to London for the next coronation. Or that one could be a forgery and the real stone might be in the town of Arbroath, or maybe it’s hidden inside Dunsinnan Hill. Or perhaps J.K. Rowling had Harry Potter steal it, and it serves as a coffee table in one of her houses.

So the Stone of Scone remains mysterious. Even when you’re looking at it, you can’t be one hundred percent sure you’re really looking at it. But then that’s what you get when you invest so much power in an ordinary thing. It’s the sort of magical transformation that can only be accomplished through storytelling.

Describe your favorite chair.