Last Thursday, I took a walk through Heritage Park with my friend Christy, who is training for a hike through Death Valley. (I know! It’s on my bucket list and I live vicariously through her.. :-)) We started in the later afternoon so it was just about dusk as we walked the trails, covered in woodchips in some areas.
We walked and talked, taking random turns at various trail intersections. We passed others here and there, but it didn’t seem too crowded for a sunny afternoon.
On a bridge railing I found a painted rock, which had Make a Difference painted on the front, and a very cool combination of colored metallic swirls on the back. I first thought of Livonia Rocks, a very active rock painting group on Facebook, but this one had no indication of it on the underside (usually on the rocks they include “Livonia Rocks, take a pic, post and rehide!” or something to that nature). They paint and leave rocks in various places, many with positive messages. If you find one, you can keep it, or hide it somewhere else for the next person to find. Then take a pic and post it to the Facebook group. It’s neat to see the journey the rocks go on, sometimes out of state and internationally! I decided to take the rock, do a good deed and then pass it along.
Actually it reads, “Make a Differce” but I get what they were trying to say. 🙂
The very first thing that came to mind was the starfish story, which was adapted from the essay, The Star Thrower, by Loren Eisley. In short, there was a boy walking on the beach after a storm, which had exposed hundreds of starfish lying in the sand. The boy was frantically picking them up and throwing them back into the water. A man walks by and asks what he is doing. The boy tells him, and the man replies that there are hundreds of starfish along the beach and that he won’t possibly be able to make a difference. The boy picks up and throws another starfish into the water and says, “It made a difference for that one!” Truly one of my favorites.
I heard a splash and looked up to see three does crossing the river before running deep into the woods beyond. I dropped the rock into my pocket and we continued on our walk, finding the COOLEST trail that dead ended by a creek and some rapids!
Christy is also one of my dear kayaking buddies and I commented how every body of water I see I try to determine the depth and if I could paddle it. 🙂 I can’t wait to get back on the water this season.
Before we left I took a panoramic photo to try and capture the awesomeness of this area. It was like something out of a book! The muddy trail actually went a bit further into the brush, but we decided we’d explore that another day as we were losing daylight.
We ended our hike with two trips up and down a sledding hill! Christy needed it for training, I needed it because, well, let’s just say I needed it! LOL
Fast forward to today, my appointment to donate platelets at the American Red Cross. I decided that was where I’d leave the rock to continue it’s journey. After several hours, a Netflix movie and minus 3 bags of platelets later, I left it on the base of a light pole near my parking space.
I did post it to Livonia Rocks in case the artist is part of the group. I hope someone finds it and chooses to make a difference!
I’ve always loved that starfish story. I hope whoever finds your rock does a good deed too and passes it on:-)
I hope so too! 🙂 Yes, it’s one of my favorites..