It's amazing to think that a spider knows how to weave an entire network of delicate connections - especially when you see it in sunlight.
It's even more amazing to think that all those threads and connections lead somewhere - and while it's hard to tell where one ends and another begins, you just know they're there to hold that web together and keep it strong.
Connection is human nature. It's as natural as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I think the urge to want to connect with someone or something is just as important as the connection itself.
However, when you've got a "car" that isn't exactly built for cross country road trips and a friend for every dot on a world map, a cell phone and a computer become the needle and thread that hold your world together.
You don't really want to use them, but you know they're the only tools you've got - so you learn to use them wisely. It's like taking the stairs when you know the elevator is broken. You don't want to, but you've got a hot date waiting and don't want to be any later than you already are.
When I say "See you later" to a friend, it is later - months later. That gap is all the more reason to want to keep the door open. That way, it'll be like I haven't missed one day when it's time to say hello again.
I recently had an "ah-ha" moment while sitting in church, listening to my priest deliver his weekly homily. It was about how a tried and true bond can be a connector to everything else.
It didn't change what I already knew, but it added to it.
There's a certain quality in knowing an actual person, place or thing can offer a level of comfort that technology can't touch - and that's when the light bulb came on. In a weird way, it reminded me of the James Taylor and Carol King classic, "You've Got A Friend."
Technology may have a place in the world, but it doesn't take the place of having breakfast with people you've known for years or just being in good company.
That's why the ability to connect is so unique. It does more than any machine can do and has an equally powerful impact on places you go - as well as the things you see, touch and hear in those places.
No one can tell you what a connection means or if it will last. You just have to trust that that special person, place or thing that sparked something inside will maintain that same special quality that drew you to it in the first place, even though everything around it may change.
By the same token, the connections that are worth making - or the ones that are worth a shot - are the ones that will eventually mean the most.
It may take a walk outside your comfort zone to find them, but when you do, make sure you do everything you can to keep them strong - and if you find yourself starting to sing, "Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you've got to do is call", that's OK, too - because you've got a friend.
Erin Kelly was born with cerebral palsy and lives in Altoona. She aims to educate, enlighten and entertain readers through every day antics of her physically challenged life. She is a 2009 graduate of Penn State Altoona. E-mail her at ekelly1006@hotmail.com.
