Blog archive
June 2023
Bridget Brewster Discovers Village Benefits
06/04/2023
Rumor of Humor #16
06/04/2023
Communications Project with Cal State LA
06/02/2023
Creative Aging
06/01/2023
May 2023
One Villager's Story
05/31/2023
Pasadena Area Liberal Arts Center
05/31/2023
Pasadena Village Responds to Rainbow Flag Burning at Pasadena Buddhist Temple
05/31/2023
Plan Ahead - And Be Prepared
05/31/2023
Tuesday, May 23 Pasadena Celebrated Older Americans
05/31/2023
Reparations, Social Justice Activity
05/24/2023
Rumor of Humor #14
05/19/2023
Rumor of Humor #13
05/12/2023
Issue #12
05/09/2023
Science Monday - Review of Meeting on April 10, 2023
05/09/2023
Conversations Re African American Artists Before 1920
05/08/2023
Beyond the Village – Suzi and Phil Hoge
05/01/2023
Congratulations Wayne April! Honored at UNH
05/01/2023
Table Topics
05/01/2023
Volunteer Appreciation at the Village
05/01/2023
“ACCIDENTAL HOST—The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease”
05/01/2023
April 2023
Jumbo Joy
04/24/2023
Pasadenans Recent Experience With Racism
04/23/2023
Recent Events Reflecting Racism
04/23/2023
Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
04/18/2023
Photography for Social Justice
04/11/2023
Issue #8
04/07/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Catherine Deely
04/06/2023
Creative Writing in Older Adults
04/06/2023
Gifts of Love
04/06/2023
March 2023
Issue #7
03/31/2023
Issue #6
03/26/2023
Great Decisions update
03/14/2023
Dominion Lawsuit, South Africa and 710 Stub
03/08/2023
February 2023
2023 DEI Progress
02/27/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Doug Colliflower
02/26/2023
CONVERSATIONS WITH ART
02/26/2023
GREAT DECISIONS
02/26/2023
OLDER ADULTS RESOURCE FAIR
02/26/2023
The Important, Influential Books in our Lives - Revisited
02/26/2023
History, Resolution of the 710 Freeway
02/19/2023
Eminent Domain, 710 Highway
02/13/2023
Bernard Garrett, 710 Freeway
02/06/2023
Men's Times Gatherings
02/03/2023
January 2023
Pasadena's Senior Commission
01/30/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - JIM HENDRICK
01/27/2023
GRATITUDE - IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!
01/27/2023
JEFF GUTSTADT - FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
01/27/2023
Bernard Garrett, Incredible Black Entrepreneur
01/17/2023
What is the "Spirit Talk" Group About?
01/16/2023
Same Ol’ New Year, Brand New Me
01/12/2023
Review of 2022, Consideration of 2023
01/06/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - PATTI LA MARR
01/03/2023
FROM THE CHAIR
01/03/2023
WALK WITH EASE
01/03/2023
A Tiny Droplet
By Meanderings BLOGPosted: 11/14/2021
The endless sea ebbs, flows, rolls on and on, from horizon to horizon, from sunrise to sunrise. Sometimes it lies like a vast pane of glass, peaceful and undisturbed. At other times, it twists and writhes, pushing wave after wave upward from deep within. From the crest of each wave, it flings a portion of its watery essence skyward.
A tiny droplet, one of many, soars violently upward. It awakens with a start. The initial shock
soon gives way to a feeling of awe as the little droplet sails on the breeze, climbing ever higher, banking back and forth in a seemingly endless dance.
Soon the little droplet’s joy is tempered with a vague uneasiness. Unaware of what is happening inside, the tiny droplet begins to grow. Gradually it becomes too heavy for the cool, refreshing air to hold it. It begins to fall, slowly and gently, until it nestles onto a little leaf near the top of a tree. Engulfed by a sense of calm and well-being, the little droplet rests.
After a time, the little droplet awakens. It reaches out to taste the world into which it has fallen: the glossy green smoothness of the leaf, other leaves stretching in all directions, majestic trees beyond, the fresh forest smell all around, and overhead the ethereal blue of the sky. The little droplet is overwhelmed, filled to the brim with the goodness pouring in from all sides. It only hopes that somehow it can give in return something of the bounty it is receiving.
Time rolls on. Then one day, the tiny droplet feels itself moving. Fears mount as it slides toward the edge of the leaf. Over the edge it goes, and once again it plunges through the cool air. Fortunately, the fall is brief. The little droplet comes to rest on a larger leaf, and once more it feels that sense of calm and wonder.
The process repeats: sliding toward the edge, a moment of fear, a brief fall, and rest on a new leaf. With each repetition of this cycle, the droplet’s anxiety decreases, and the subsequent rest and sense of well-being intensify.
As the years pass, the cycle seems to slow down, and the little droplet begins to wonder when, or if, it will end. A sense of foreboding creeps in among the leaves of the great tree. Perhaps these leaves, this tree, this forest are not all there is.
Then one day, after another brief plunge through the cool air, the little droplet lands not on a leaf, but on a much harder surface. It begins to slide almost immediately. The fear returns, greater than before, threatening to drown the little droplet. Then a vaguely familiar sound echoes gently through the forest. It is the sound of a distant roar, rising and falling in rhythm. The roar grows, and as it does it seems to call to the tiny droplet: “Come. I bring a more profound rest, a more enduring peace.”
The tiny droplet slides to the very edge of the rocky cliff. It clings indecisively for one last instant to the cliff’s massive security, and then lets go.