Marveling at the Little Things

As I was walking this morning, I had a surge of happiness. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful our world—and life—can truly be.

We are such smart and inventive people. I won’t talk about putting a man on the moon because that has almost become a cliché: Wow! We put a man on the moon! While I am certainly not negating the importance—or sheer ingenuity—of that feat, it is hardly the only accomplishment worth marveling at. Sometimes even the smaller things are the ones that catch my attention.

A few weeks ago, my neighbor was having some work done on her house. We live in a cul-de-sac, and she lives directly across from me, so I had a front-row seat to the activity. She had ordered two replacement columns for her front porch because the originals had been damaged by dry rot.

I missed the truck’s arrival, but by the time I noticed what was happening, a forklift carrying the columns was already in motion. I watched as the driver maneuvered it toward my neighbor’s garage, seemingly with little effort. He gently lowered the columns to the ground but couldn’t push them all the way inside because something was blocking the way. Once the obstacle was removed, he finished placing them where the contractor would need them.

Then came the part that really intrigued me.

The driver took the forklift across the street and parked it directly behind the large delivery truck. He walked to the truck bed and began pushing buttons. Arms extended from the truck, grabbed hold of the forklift, and lifted the entire machine off the ground. The forklift was pulled snugly against the back of the truck. A few clicks and clangs later, everything was connected and secured.

Within about five minutes, the driver climbed into the truck and pulled away.

Job complete.

It may sound odd, but I was completely fascinated by the whole process. One person had just delivered two huge, heavy, cumbersome columns with remarkable ease. The columns were 7 x 7 and ten feet tall. I can only imagine how much they weighed. Yet with the right equipment—and the knowledge to use it—one person was able to do the entire job.

Isn’t it incredible what we are able to accomplish?

We create. We build. We imagine a problem and then invent something that helps us solve it. Sometimes those accomplishments are enormous enough to make history books.

And sometimes they’re sitting across the street in a cul-de-sac, lifting a forklift onto the back of a truck.

This story first appeared on an earlier version of my blog and has been lightly edited for Grace & Glimmers.