Begin with a leaf. Place a napkin or paper towel on a table. Lay the leaf flat on top of the paper towel. Using a toothpick dipped in water, drop one drop on to the leaf.
The drop sits at rest, a gleaming globule of moisture glistening in the light. Look closely into the drop and you will see a magnified image of the surface of the leaf. The drop acts a magnifier and a catalyst.
Through refraction it bends light reflections into a larger image. The drop opens the door for the eye to see tiny imperfections visible in a larger image. This is also useful to trace the patterns of veins in a leaf. Imagination can take this image and transform it into innumerable structures.
Ever wonder how water gets from the river to the faucet? The suggestion may be found in the tracery of veins from a drop of water on a leaf.
It is necessary at times to open the imagination. Every person has issues, and at times also has the viewpoint of a person plagued by disappointment or stuck in a rut. Where is that water drop? A cancer, a friend or family member’s untimely passing, the trash man coming at 10 o’clock with a truck belching like a heifer with gas because he was due at 8 — all of these can be that drop of water.
It may not be known. It does, however, point to change.
Sometimes we can believe that we are on the small end of magnification. In those moments, to continue to be strong, it is important to ask the question: What is better for the future we do not know?
Twenty years ago there were no IPhones. Computers sat on a desk and bean cans provided internet links if the string got tangled. Wanting juicy news? Show up at the diner and talk with the regulars. They could tell tales of mystery and intrigue, bad behavior and impressive appetites. The coffee was bottomless and the sugar bowl was never empty.
Change comes. It shows up when you least expect it and becomes a clear sign that it is time to change things that we cling to better than a burdock seed on a sock.
Put on the bonnet. Straighten the broomstick skirt. Pack the smelling salts. Pull up the britches and fasten the belt under the suspenders. Change will happen. Get ready.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television, worked around the U.S., and later changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
