Connections

Moths to butterflies, flower buds to Botanical Beauties (of both kinds), nuts and bolts, wine and cheese, arts and culture, smiles and laughter, computers and the internet, smart devices and apps, house and home, heartbeats and life, acceptance and love….so many kinds of connections!

The connections I want to chat about today are friends and places. Some friends you picked, some picked you, some are family and, for me, not only are some humans but some are animals-usually dogs! (smiles)  However, they are all connections I feel strongly about. I traveled this past week or so, made a big loop of old, and dear, friends in two states and three places in my mind. When I was driving home I was thinking about where do I feel “connected” and where is home these days? I was driving back to my physical home, walls I love being within. These walls hold my dogs, my memories, my things, and many good aspects for me. The area (place) holds wonderful friends. It is my present life, where I work, where I am! The present, and being in the present, is good- it helps one feel connected! This is positively one home of mine. But, that is my point, it’s only one home, one place of a few I connect with…Home Two: I am very attached to those friends and family I just visited up North. I feel very ‘connected’ when I see them, connected when I walk/drive many of those streets, and even though I have nothing to do with the community anymore I still feel connected to it. There is the familiar and much history for me in home #2. It’s a strong connection, a pull, a draw. A place I am comfortable in, feel safe in, as well fun and welcoming.  Home Three: My connections to the place I grew up are also very strong, those friends, and naturally family connections, and love, envelopes me wherever I go. As expected, many memories and good things here too… I am lucky; I have three “safe havens” to dock in. All offer different pluses as well as a few minus, but that’s all part of what makes up a place -the location, the people, the attractions/activities, the CONNECTIONS that attach you!

It reminds me of a paper clip chain, all looped together and all connected. Mine winds up and down from N. Carolina, to Northern New York, to Vermont and Maine! The other image that comes to mind is that of a butterfly.  All the colors of the wings, flying, or fluttering if you prefer, changing from moth to butterfly. That transformation, somehow is a connection and has always astonished me. Then, those little antennas that do such much! I admit I looked up the word antenna just to make sure I was spelling it correctly but the definitions are wonderful, think figuratively!   “thin sensory appendages…the faculty of instinctively detecting and interpreting subtle signs…a transmitter!” Talk about connecting! If we could all do that all the time- WOW! That begs the question of Connections and how does it interact with Communications? Maybe a post soon…

noun1
Zoology (pl. antennae |-ˈtenē|) either of a pair of long, thin sensory appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, and some other arthropods. • (antennae) the faculty of instinctively detecting and interpreting subtle signs: he has the political antennae of a party whip.
2 (pl. antennas) a rod, wire, or other device used to transmit or receive radio or television signals.

Butterfly