Once there was this wonderfully complacent barnacle, clinging to a spot on a rock and watching in fascination all of the marvels that drift by him. He gains most of his sustenance by filter feeding the nutrients from the flowing water. But this barnacle is not just a casual observer no matter how inconspicuous he would like to be. He is affected by his environment, in this case a nail nearby staining him with its rust. All the other barnacles marvel at his cool colors and what a nice spot he has on his secure rock on the edge of the bay. Soon new barnacles are growing and flourishing on his rock and he enjoys the company and adoration of them. But after a while the din is overwhelming. He craves the time when he had his solitude to marvel at the things that drifted by. To wonder what they were, where they came from and where they were going.
One day this barnacle has a crazy, very unbarnacle kind of idea. Through super barnacle strength of will and determination, he does something few barnacles dare to do. He manages to detach himself from his nice secure vantage point and trust the flow of the current that has sustained him. Some of the other barnacles think he's crazy. Many think he's so 'lucky' and wish they had the time, will, guts, circumstances or whatever to do what he's doing.
Our rusty protagonist manages to reverse the cohesive bonding tendencies of his exoskeleton shell (he's been reading up on the subject of biophysics) and drifts clear of his rock. After much thought and observation, he has timed his departure to coincide with the out going tide. He has noticed that the tastier bits and more interesting stuff flows by when the tide normally comes in and that direction holds more promise.
It does not go well for him at first. For several tidal changes he just goes around in circles banging against things occasionally. But mostly he is just being suspended in the flowing current. Like an alien in a calcified space ship. He drifts by his old rock occasionally and several of his friends notice him going by. He waves his filters at them and they wish him luck.
After a while he gets tired and decides to rest on the next solid feeling thing he comes across. He drifts into a shady area and bumps the underside of some kind of overhang. He makes his way to the edge of the shade and light, for he knows that edges are places where interesting stuff happens, and goes to sleep.
He drifts awake with the realization that there is a new fresher taste to the water flowing past him. His head clears slowly (barnacles do everything slowly). The 'rock' he is clinging to the underside of had a most unrocklike feeling to it. With a start he realizes his rock is moving! Not just through the water but slowly up and down as well. He becomes comfortable with the motion and watches as the water beneath him gets darker and the ground recedes away from him. He gets a quick glimpse of some of his old barnacle friends clinging to the rocks of the harbor's breakwater and waves his filters madly at them. They wave back and soon he is only with himself and becomes elated with the thoughts of the experiences, which lie ahead.
(c) Kai Schwarz 2012 (with thanks to Richard Bach)
