Make a difference

For as long as I could remember, there had been a small scrap of untended land between the guardrail and the road right after the big curve in East Cliff Drive. Weeds and wild grasses flourished there in the winter and spring, only to wither and turn brown in summer. Every so often, someone would deposit a box of dishes or a partially dismantled crib in hopes that a passerby would find what they had been looking for and haul it away.

One day, I noticed someone had a couple of large patches and started planting flowers. The transformation happened gradually and covered only part of the terrain. A couple of weeks later, I introduced myself to Charlie when he was watering and thanked him for the lovely garden.

No one appointed him to this post. When Charlie saw that abandoned bit of town, he imagined what was possible, bought the plants and seeds, dug up the dirt, put them in the ground, and kept them growing.

No one appointed Charlie. I am pretty sure he didn’t ask anybody’s permission. He took the initiative and made something happen, something that brings a smile to the folks who drive or walk by this well-traveled intersection.

People stopped abandoning their old junk there, too.

It is in our hands to make a difference.