Something happened. In the end, I didn’t make any such plans. We didn’t fire up the barbecue. No decorations were hung. No one was thrown in the pool. I’m completely responsible for not following through. I’m still not sure why. Instead, a regular weekend came and went. Almost.

Not that a weekend at Club Pebble Beach is a bad thing. In fact, that Friday night some friends and I went to Islands Restaurant, and returned to play computer games. Early in the evening, Jeff relayed a story about how he created a rubber-band ball.

In the strange way that thoughts sometimes do, the two otherwise incongruous facts merged, and inspiration precipitated out.

After ten years in one house, the one thing I have continually done is throw the newspaper’s rubber-band into a kitchen drawer. If there is anything that says “Ten Years” for me, its a drawer full of rubber-bands. Okay, that’s not true. But still, I had ten years of rubber-bands on hand. About four hours later, as my friends played computer games, occasionally with their help, I had created three very bouncy rubber-band balls.

An interesting thing I learned about rubber-band balls: When they first start out, they really are better described as a knot than a ball. It takes quite a few additional rubber-bands to archive the traditional sphere associated with a ball. But, here is what’s really interesting: when I tried to be methodical about placing the rubber-bands, lining up the twists, “points” would start to form. But, when I stopped paying it so much attention, haphazardly going about adding rubber-bands, the overall shape would smooth back out.

Now you are probably asking yourself, “What’s that supposed to mean?” (assuming anyone is still reading).

Honestly, I’m not really sure there is any connection to some greater inner truth. But, I am reminded of the phrase “Let go, and let God” (which loosely may come from Luke 17:33). Anyway, now some of you are probably still asking yourself, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

For me, there is just a lot about my life here on earth that I don’t get. I’m not referring to The Truth, but more along the lines of what should I be doing with my life? Sometimes I try to move towards what I think I want, but disappointment is often encountered. Yet, the little things that just happen along the way occasionally bring the most joy.

So, ten years ago, I started collecting rubber-bands. I had no real purpose or intent about it, but, I just collected them. In one evening, they transformed into an icon for me. Today, I can look at my collection of rubber-band balls and I remember ten years of great times that happened along the way.

No doubt: there were disappointments along the way. But as other things came along — even with their own disappointments — the rough spots seems to be smoothed out.