{"id":4290,"date":"2024-04-05T14:34:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T18:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/?p=4290"},"modified":"2024-04-09T09:31:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:31:22","slug":"delaney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2024\/04\/05\/delaney\/","title":{"rendered":"I Can Be a Drop"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sara Delaney<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Water drops on Pemadumcook Lake in the morning, August 2023.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

I Can Be a Drop <\/h3>\n

The rain came down heavy during the night, a comforting sound on the roof. <\/span><\/p>\n

We were sleeping at a friend\u2019s \u201ccamp\u201d – up in the north of Maine, Millinocket. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was quiet there, peaceful. The little houses were right on the lakeshore. <\/span><\/p>\n

Large long lakes that connected, diverged, plenty of space for swimmers, canoers, fishers, people sitting and looking and chatting. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was one of the first to wake the next morning, and I snuck outside. <\/span><\/p>\n

Down the stairs, down the path, to the lake.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t often get to sleep that close to a lake, and it felt like a treat. <\/span><\/p>\n

The rain had stopped, and the sun was rising. Everything wet and sparkling. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The water surface was calm, smooth. <\/span><\/p>\n

Except for where water was dropping from tree leaves along the shore. <\/span><\/p>\n

Drop, drop, drop. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I stood and watched those drops. Almost as mesmerizing as ocean wavers or fire flames. <\/span><\/p>\n

A drop would hit the water, and then spread out, making a bigger and bigger circle. <\/span><\/p>\n

And another, next to it, overlapping. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The image took my mind to a piece I had worked on with others during the winter, published in last year’s edition of <\/span>Spire<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We made a graphic for it, an attempt to show how individuals or groups can work together, how small actions can become part of bigger actions. <\/span><\/p>\n

That graphic had the same concentric circles that I was seeing, studying, on the water. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can small efforts really make a difference? I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of some of our large global human-induced challenges: our emissions and the changing climate, our land use and biodiversity loss, conflicts and refugees and forced migration. Looking at these circles, spreading out, makes me think\u2026 maybe? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In that article, we talked about \u201cpeer-to-peer social affinity\u201d, or \u201cinteractions based on mutual interest between equal-level actors; individual to individual, group to group, state to state, and nation to nation.\u201d These circles, on this lake, were overlapping, interacting, building something bigger. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The drops had no objective. No agenda. They each disappeared as they grew. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I had to turn away. Go back into the camp. <\/span><\/p>\n

Into the chaos of a morning filled with excited kids and pancakes and plans for swimming. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the drops and the circles stayed with me. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can be a drop. I am one. My actions can make a circle.  <\/span><\/p>\n

And I am surrounded by others, overlapping, interacting, and maybe\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

creating something that won\u2019t disappear. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sara Delaney   “Water drops on Pemadumcook Lake in the morning, August 2023.”   I Can Be a Drop  The rain came down heavy during the night, a comforting sound on the roof.  We were sleeping at a friend\u2019s \u201ccamp\u201d – up in the north of Maine, Millinocket.  It was quiet there, peaceful. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2245,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spire-2024-issue"],"yoast_head":"\nI Can Be a Drop - The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2024\/04\/05\/delaney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Can Be a Drop - The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sara Delaney   “Water drops on Pemadumcook Lake in the morning, August 2023.”   I Can Be a Drop  The rain came down heavy during the night, a comforting sound on the roof.  We were sleeping at a friend\u2019s \u201ccamp\u201d – up in the north of Maine, Millinocket.  It was quiet there, peaceful. 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