The Caterpillar...

There once was a caterpillar. Almost every day the caterpillar would spend it's time munching, crawling, and just being. Then one day it had this tremendous urge to climb, so it started to.  The funny thing was, the little caterpillar didn't know a thing about why it was climbing. It just knew it had to be done.  After a very long climb, the caterpillar thought...What now? Then by pure instinct, the little caterpillar started creating something that it had never thought to make before. As time passed and with the foreign creation almost complete, the little caterpillar became quite weak. Maybe, thought the caterpillar, my destiny was to climb the tallest tree I could find, to build something that makes no sense to me, and to close my eyes forever. Feeling defeated, weak, and the inability to hold it's eyes open any longer, the little caterpillar passed into a deep sleep welcoming what it thought was death.

Then.. the little caterpillar started to stir. It felt different... lighter... and refreshed. Something amazing had happened. As the caterpillar looked around, it realized that it wasn't dead at all. In fact, it wasn't just a little caterpillar anymore. Then came the epiphany: it's destiny wasn't to die... it was to become something beyond it's own imagination so that it could accomplish things it never knew possible. So the little caterpillar fluttered it's wings and away he flew...knowing that his future was still ahead waiting to be discovered. 

The moral of the story? Trust your gut and along your path, you too will find your wings. 

All You Need Is Love

Well, it’s interesting isn’t it? Love. Just the word sparks all sorts of thoughts, emotions, and reactions. What does it do for you? I remember this specific topic coming up one day with a guy in his early 20’s. He wanted to know how to tell when the right one comes along.  I smiled coyly and shrugged as I replied, “You just know”. 

His take was different than mine but his age and lack of experience also played a role in his opinion. He thought that there are many loves out there considering there’s like 6 billion people in the world. How could there be just one? My response was…people cross our paths for reasons…in the right plane of our lives…in our location…and usually when we are least expecting it.  He obviously disagreed with his 6 billion people theory. He contended that there are many people that would be compatible enough to share a life with. Well, as someone with experience, that frame of mind only gets you so far.  Compatibility, sure…sharing a life with someone else based solely on compatibility, not sure.   

I’d prefer to think it’s a whole lot more to it than that. How he viewed love was how I used to see it and it makes me wonder. How do you know when you’ve found the “it” factor?  You know, the one that is steady, secure, loving, easy, and makes you smile just a little when you think about it.  And is there only one, many, 6 billion? I don’t have the answer for that.  But I do know “it” exists…and man, that’s good enough for me.   

Soul Searching

I found several of these...heart rocks

Another heart rock

In our little area of Franklin, PA some might think it odd that I can say there is so much to do on an ordinary day. It's a place where you can bike on the paved trails or make ones of your own. In the summer, I often find myself lying on a blanket in Fountain Park, while listening to the sweet sounds of Max Schang. Regardless of what you choose to do in this little town, there are hidden "sweet spots" that not many people know about.  For example, right off of the Allegheny trail is this quaint little place where the falls are peaceful, the hike is a bit challenging, and it feels as though life stands still. Here are some pictures of this wonderful place. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.