tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12522172754186618722024-03-11T14:52:37.934-07:00It's a big lifetedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-53585979145572037022024-03-10T16:45:00.000-07:002024-03-11T11:46:17.340-07:00You never know...you know?<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">"If you do not expect the unexpected, </span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;"><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">you will not find it, for it is not to be </span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">reached by search or trail."</span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> - Heraclitus </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Greek Philosopher</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Reed was running late. It was the strangest of events that we were meeting at all.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In October 2023, I worked as technical support for a local play. We were looking for an LCD projector for some of the rehearsal work. After failing to find a reasonable one to rent, I called Reed, a computer and presentation whiz at the community college where I teach. As it turned out, he had a projector and would let me borrow it.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Even though we only needed it for a few rehearsals, Reed said to keep it until he returned from a trip in early November. Between the latter part of November and last week, I emailed and texted him frequently to see if I might get the projector back to him.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I had heard nothing from him until this past Friday morning (March 8th, for reference), when I got a text asking whether I could get the projector to him at 12:30 pm at our most western campus. West Campus is a forty-five-minute drive from my home. That was not a problem, but I had a 1 p.m. luncheon, making the timing unworkable.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I suggested an alternative to meet at a Starbucks on his route to school. It was thirty minutes from home, and catching him well before 12:30 would be early enough for me to do the handoff and return in time for lunch.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The above is foreplay…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I got to Starbucks early to eliminate any delay on his part. It was not a problem for me. I’m in a play in late April and had my script with me. It was an excellent time to practice lines.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I noticed a man sitting on the ground, leaning against the coffee shop wall near the entrance. I was thirty feet away on the opposite front side of the shop. He looked homeless and had a couple of backpacks on the ground beside him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Winter in Tucson is a haven for the unhoused. There are shelters to help and a temperate enough climate to survive even on the streets. The odd thing about this fellow was the two drinks sitting on the ground beside him. One was a plastic cup of water, and the other a ten-dollar café Latte. The other odd thing was that while he could have been sitting in the shade, he was sitting in the sun and was as red as a beet.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I was practicing lines when I heard, “Excuse me, do you have a dollar you could lend me?”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I have a policy about this.</span></i></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“I won’t give you any money,” I replied. "But if you are hungry, I am happy to buy you something to eat."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“No, that’s okay. Thanks.” He turned and returned to his spot.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Reed was late, and I was curious, so I wandered over.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“What’s your name?” I asked.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“John.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“I’m Ted.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I asked where he was from. He said New Jersey but was living with his mother in Tucson. He had worked for several years after high school in a meat packaging plant but wanted to do something more meaningful.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“I decided I wanted to teach English as a second language,” he said.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This was my first surprise.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“Oh,” I replied. “Where?” Unsure what to expect.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“Russia. Most of my time in Moscow.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">My first thought…<i>Sure you were</i>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I’ve heard a few creative stories in my day, but initially, this one, coming from this fellow, was a little beyond the pale until I dug in a little deeper.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">“Tell me more,” I said.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He described in detail the vetting process to get there, what it was like to live in the city, and how he had traveled to Latvia, Estonia, and Scandinavia during the five years he taught. Once he got going, he was articulate and had that look one gets when they turn on the playback of the recorders of their minds. You know, kind of like I wasn’t there.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He said he enjoyed the Russian people but had gotten ill in the last year. The healthcare system was free, but he felt he was somewhat antiquated (compared to the U.S.), and he came home because he wasn’t improving. After returning to the U.S., he got COVID, became a ‘<i>long hauler</i>,’<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and was left with bilateral neuropathy in his feet (numbness and tingling). It hadn’t gotten notably better since the COVID. He could walk some but needed to rest. That's why he was sitting at the moment. He said he used to run, but that was no longer an option.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">It was about that time Reed pulled into the parking lot, and we made the projector exchange. He was gone in a flash, and I had to leave to make my lunch date.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I told John he needed a hat. He said he lost his. I gave him mine. Then I asked if he had access to a computer, and he said his mother had one. I gave him my email address and said I would enjoy hearing from him, being fairly certain I would not. After all, I was just some stranger who stepped into his space for a few moments.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">On the way home, I wish I had had more time and the presence of mind to record our conversation on my phone. It made me think of all the brief, interesting, and unexpected conversations I have had with hundreds of strangers over the years. Many have been unexpected and added texture to my journey...but John? As brief as our chat was he was near the top of my 'interesting and unexpected list.'</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Who knows what cometh…these small encounters delight me. In the future, I will have my phone at the ready…you know, just in case.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">- ted</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-10669492067869779172024-02-12T07:28:00.000-08:002024-02-12T20:40:43.020-08:00Flying by the seat of my pants...<p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“For the love of God – just once ask<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">her a [meaningful] question.”</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: right; text-indent: -12px;">-<span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>David Brooks, Author<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">During the forty-plus years of my working life (I’ll include the military here), I flew over two and a half million miles. Most of it began in my late thirties through my early seventies. A few times, I flew in the isolated bubble of business class, but for the most part, it was regular service.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The airtime led to hours of sitting beside people I didn’t know. This, in turn, led to many anonymous conversations. Anonymous because some of the most curious things are shared when talking to someone who knows they will never see you again.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My mother was a significant influence in my life. While a quiet and thoughtful woman, she loved people. When she met someone she didn’t know, learning about them was a top priority for her. She made people feel like they were the most important person in the world. I used to joke that my mother could strike up a conversation with a telephone pole and make it feel like its job had meaning.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I inherited her endless fascination with stories people tell about their lives. There was a television police drama in the 1960s called Naked City. Each episode ended with the tagline, “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As per the above 'tagline,'' I found, over hundreds of conversations, unique stories, none of which were precisely the same.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the years, I developed a series of questions that helped me know whether there might be a potential conversation. Soft ball queries – easily modified depending on responses.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“Are you heading home or heading out?”</span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“Are you traveling for business, pleasure, or family?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“What do you do for a living?”</span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“What got you interested in your field?”</span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“Is this the only work you have done?”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After all, one cannot simply say to one's seatmate, "So tell me about your life, Mr/Ms stranger."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The tenor of the replies let me know whether to continue to gently probe or go to work.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most of the time, if contact was made, it only took listening and a little nudging to slip into my seatmates' minds and stories. It was like they were tired of newspaper reporting, waiting for something more meaningful than; where have you lived? What's your job? How many kids do you have? The endless list of sterile "…just the facts, ma'am/sir" chatter. They wanted to be heard. They wanted to be seen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I became a voyeur, partaking of uniquely cultivated lives and journeys. It is incredible the things people share. Sometimes, deep secrets, failures, regrets, hopes, fears, betrayals, adulteries, joys, and hopes. There isn't much I haven't heard in a darkened airline cabin at 35,000ft (10,668m). The list is long, but the contents of the journeys make each story unique.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the consistent things I found over the years after the "hi, how are you?" people have life issues and want to find a safe place to talk and share. It turns out that quiet conversations with a seatmate can often provide just that.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The takeaway…</span></b></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a primal human need each of us has. It is the craving to feel relevant, to believe we have a place, that our lives have meaning. We want to be heard. Christ said, "He that hath an ear, let him hear." He wasn't talking about the weather, a 15-second meme on TikTok, or the day's latest news. He was saying, listen, pay attention, and focus on the message.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In today's American culture, there is much to distract us…much labeling and categorizing people, reducing them to one-dimensional caricatures. And yet…and yet, none of us is a caricature. We yearn to be understood and appreciated.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David Brooks, in his provocative book, <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">How to know a person</span>, suggests there is no such thing as an ordinary person. “[There is] a Central truth about what human beings are: a person is a point of view. People don't see the world with their eyes. They see it with their entire life.” He says:</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I’m no longer content to ask, “What do you think about X?” Instead I ask, “How did you come to believe X?”…Similarly, I don’t ask people to tell me about their values; I say, “Tell me about the person who shaped your values most.”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is not complicated, nor does it require special training. It is the operational part of doing unto others what we want others to do to (for) us. It simply requires showing genuine interest in another person's story, which opens them up to reciprocate, to show a genuine interest in our story. Isn’t that what each of us wants? Isn’t that what helps to give our lives meaning?</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It just starts with a bit of curiosity. It can be awkward initially, but that's what practice is for.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My practice? Like so many other things in my life, has come by the seat of my pants.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ted<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-51374758840489622122024-02-04T15:45:00.000-08:002024-02-05T05:06:42.740-08:00Coveting the Embers...<div style="text-align: right;"><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"...the traveler sat down by the side of that old man, face to face<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">with the serene sunset; and all his friends came<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">softly back and stood around him…"</p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- Charles Dickens: <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">The Child’s Stor</span>y</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When we were kids, we spent part of our summers in Canada. My father took the month of August away from the church to the woods of Central Ontario and the crystal-clear waters of Lake Joseph. These were memorable family times. There were no phones and no television; we just had each other.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The family property sat along the southern shores of Whalon Bay. Along that shore was a broad and bare granite rock that gently sloped to the water. It was a perfect place nestled in the woods to safely build a fire near the water's edge.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We weren't the only ones on the family property during those times. There were cousins with their own places on the sides of the bay and folks that often dropped in. When a campfire was announced, plenty of family and friends appeared to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows on small tree branches. While the fire warmed everyone, it was only the vehicle to bring us together. Sharing our lives with one another was what really mattered. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In those days, I learned that the combination of graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, and crispy marshmallows made the addictive treat called s'mores. The name suggested it all. One couldn't (or didn't want to) eat just one but wanted 'some more!'</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eventually, on those chilly Ontario nights with clear starlit skies, the fire would begin to burn down, leaving embers that were enough to please the eye but not quite enough to stave off the night chill. Folks would drift away one or two at a time to places of rest, satisfied with an evening well spent. When I was the last to leave, I would watch those embers until they were nearly gone, pulling my jacket closer against the nippy night air. Finally, water bucket in hand, I would douse a soft glow, leaving blackened ashes, the residue of a once brightly lit fire.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While these events are, by now, distant from my past, I've been thinking about those campfires lately, metaphors for the brightly burning glow of life that has warmed me all these years. I've thought about so many people with whom I spent time, sharing experiences, hopes, and dreams – remembrances that brought warmth to the chill of the approaching night air.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some of those people who gave the fires of my life so much meaning have drifted away, and others are preparing to retire to their places of rest. And yet the embers still burn. They are not so bright, but still so meaningful. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am reminded by the quote of Lénonor d'Allainval, my life has been (and continues to be) "L'Embarras des richesses" (an embarrassment of riches).</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm counting on the embers of my life to continue for some time. But I find I'm pulling my jacket a little closer against the impending night air. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-24067622930140709372024-01-22T15:35:00.000-08:002024-01-22T20:03:24.988-08:00Books and Covers...<div><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“There is no such thing as an ordinary person…”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: right; text-indent: -24px;">-<span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>David Brooks, <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">How to Know a Person</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As was her custom, she walked into the room early. This morning, she paused and stared into space for a moment. What happened next was anything but usual.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"That's Dvořák, isn't it? She said.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It took me a moment to gather myself.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“Yes, it is. How did you know?”</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"I play the piano and love classical music," she said as casually as tossing off her jacket and heading for her seat.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I am in the habit of playing music before class begins. It sets a tone for students when they enter the room…a way to clear their minds. At least, it does so for me.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In the semester at a local junior college, I ask my students what music they listen to or what they might like to hear before class. It is one way to show respect for their musical tastes and provides me with a little insight into the culture of the young.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There is little doubt that it has broadened my musical horizons. I've been exposed to Vietnamese rock and roll, Uzbekistan rap, Brazilian Indie, and my favorite, Hispanic pop. Their flavor of the day is a Puerto Rican singer/rapper named Bad Bunny. I don't understand the lyrics, but musical rhythms are universal in their appeal, and I enjoy them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There is also good science regarding the way music affects our minds. It can elicit emotional responses, regulate mood, reduce stress, and bond us socially and culturally, not to mention the pleasure it can bring. Think for a moment about music you have listened to that made you revisit your youth, making you want to jump up and dance (you know it's true - but I digress).</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My musical interests are broad, so when students do not recommend something they are interested in, I play what I feel like. It might be country/western, South African protest, Indie, or, in the case of this particular morning, Dvořák because I find him energetic, a little whimsical, and a good mental class prepper for me.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Back to my coed…</b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cassandra (not her real name) is a diminutive and quiet Hispanic student with long raven hair, piercing brown eyes, and a stature just a little north of five feet in height (1.5m). At the beginning of the semester, I thought she was not paying attention, as she mostly glanced down at her desk during lectures. That, as it turns out, was as wrong as my surprise at her knowledge of classical music. Her assignments were always on time, and she got 'A's on all her exams.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>It gets better…</b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My classes last two and a half hours, more than any rational person could attend to the density of anatomy and physiology (or any topic for that matter). I give ten-minute breaks every forty-five minutes or so. Students usually leave the classroom for personal metabolic moments, but some stay and hang out. During that time, I get the chance to chat a little more informally with them.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One day, Cassandra was in a small group that stayed in the room during one of the breaks. I asked what kinds of books they read. With the significant, time-wasting effects of social media, I didn't expect much. </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cassandra piped up, “Well, I read the classics.”</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“So, what classics do you like to read?” I asked, unsure what to expect after learning her musical knowledge earlier.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Oh, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austin. You know, writers like that," she replied with a disarming casualness.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“I’ll make you a deal,” I said, trying not to show my amazement at this side of her. “You recommend a book for me, and I'll suggest one for you."</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i>An aside: I often ask people about books they enjoy. This practice has broadened my exposure to literature. I have gotten some great recommendations that I would never have thought of reading.</i></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cassandra recommended two books: Bram Stoker’s <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Dracula</span> and Jane Austen's <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Northanger Abbey</span>.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I recommended Amore Towles', <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">A Gentleman in Moscow.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I must admit, I have carefully avoided books like <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Dracula</span> because they are so dark…horror is not my thing. But for Cassandra’s sake, I worked my way through it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Northanger Abby</span>, on the other hand, was a lovely nineteenth-century coming-of-age novel from the perspective of the young female protagonist Catherine Morland. It was nicely paced, and I enjoyed it. </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Without chatting about books on a break with students in the presence of Cassandra, I would never have read Austen…I would have missed another piece of her mind.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Is there a point here?</b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There are times when I have come close to losing hope for my generation and the generation in which so many of my students find themselves…extreme tribalism fueled by often damaging social media. As I look around, it seems there is less and less light around the world in the sunset of my life and the dawn of theirs.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And then there is Cassandra, a mind full of energy and intellect yet diminutive and quiet. It just took a little early morning pre-class music to open the 'book and turn some pages.'</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One never knows what pearls lie in the fields of people's minds and, more amazingly, the unanticipated ‘music’ that finds them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">- ted</span></p></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-88035488210567976652024-01-14T12:06:00.000-08:002024-01-14T15:31:00.639-08:00Falling off my bike...<div><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Live every day like it is your last.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">You never know. It just might be!”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Anonymous</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: right;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was one of those Sunday mornings when Dave and I rode together. Dave is eighty, and we have been doing this as regularly as clockwork for more than a decade.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The timing of the rides depends on the season. In the winter, as it is now here in the desert, it is often quite chilly in the early mornings. For the uninitiated, the thought of the desert, even in the winter, being cold, is a bit alien. However, early morning temperatures this time of year can sometimes be freezing (32°- 0°C), leading to flexible start times - between 8:30 am and 10 am.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even when it is not that cold, early temperatures regularly range from the low forties to mid-fifties (~5-12C).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the summer months, the start is several hours earlier (6:30 am - 7:30 am). Our goal is to get in the neighborhood of 15 miles on the rides.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When Dave was in his seventies, I was a spry fellow moving past my mid-sixties. In those days, this bike riding thing would be, you know, a thing. So, back then, he bought a new bicycle. It was fire engine red, and he loved it. But as time and gravity moved relentlessly forward, even the small uphill grades became challenging for him.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was, on the other hand, an energetic mid-sixtyish, able to manage those grades much better due to my youthful legs…okay, NOT so youthful; I’m just saying it was easier for me than Dave.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then came the next change for my riding partner. One day, Dave showed up with a new partner - an electric bicycle! By now, after several years and nearly 5,000 miles on the e-bike, things are different. Now, I’m the one who finds himself unable to keep up with his hill climbing.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The first fall…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One day before COVID, Dave and I were crossing a trail bridge on our usual Sunday morning ride; I cut the corner too sharply. My bike seat caught the edge of the bridge, and I went down like a pregnant elephant.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Dave,” I yelled somewhere between being tangled in my bicycle and floating mid-air. With a thud, I landed on my right side, my helmet lightly bouncing on the asphalt.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">That was then…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last week, the morning was near freezing, so we waited until ten before heading out. I have a bicycle rack for my car, allowing us to vary our rides on any given morning. Because there are some hundred and thirty miles of asphalt walking/bicycling trails here in Tucson, we start the trail from various starting points for changes in scenery.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is the typical small-talk ride until the hills. Without fail, by the time I’d get to the top, Dave would say something like, “Nice job. Keep at it, youngster. It will get easier.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we leave from home rather than ‘drive to ride,’ we return home the same way. It winds through quiet neighborhoods, and except for one moderately busy road to cross it is exceedingly safe.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought an oncoming car was going to stop to let us cross. It didn’t, and as I was leaning right to get off the bike, I gripped the front left brake. stopping the bike dead on its wheels. I, on the other hand, continued in forward/side motion. and fell off the bike.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You know how often people say things go into slow motion when they crash their car or fall? Not me! It was BRAKE and BANG!</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After lying on the pavement for a few moments, my first thought was how lucky I was not to be moving at any speed. My second thought was wondering how much pain I would have once the shock wore off. Several folks stopped to see if I was all right.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I’m fine, thanks.”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As it turned out, I was fine, with only a minor bang to my elbow.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Later, after taking some anti-inflammatory medication and icing my right elbow, I thought about how riding a bike is a little bit like life’s journey. It can only go forward…there is no reverse gear. You only know the moment you are in, because the past is unchangeable and the future? Well none of us knows anything about that.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s not falling down or failing that determines one’s trajectory but getting up and going again. The impact of a fall takes a little time to absorb…, a little time to check for damage,… a little time to get back up and go again.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Next Sunday morning? We’ll be back on the bikes; grateful the crash was not my last! Not that I anticipated another fall, but rather that this fall wasn't a terminal event.</span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-15870350849442266372023-01-18T14:08:00.003-08:002023-01-18T15:33:29.630-08:00Happy, just not hap, hap, happy...<div><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">There is not anything in this world, perhaps, that is more talked of,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">and less understood, than the business of a <i>happy life</i>. It is every<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">man’s wish and design; and yet not one of a thousand that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">knows wherein that happiness consists.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 64px; text-align: right; text-indent: -32px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Times; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">-</span> Lucius Anneaeus Seneca</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 64px; min-height: 25px; text-align: right; text-indent: -32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sitting in her office when it's chilly or outside around her fire pit when it is not, Gail and I search the cosmos for meaning. It's the kind of thing friends do when exploring one another's universe.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gail is a retired hospital CFO and a Buddhist. I, on the other hand, consider myself a Christian Stoic. Over many a cup of coffee and in the presence of Butler, the cat, we have come to a reasonably decent understanding and appreciation of the worlds in which each of us lives. This would be a relative statement because, while we have a similar time in service on this third planet from the sun, we appreciate that we really don’t even fully understand ourselves.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have often noticed, in my own mind, how easy it is to think I know other people but not be so clear about myself. I suppose it's about the fifty-thousand-foot view of others, where things seem discernibly soft around the edges. It seems easier. Whereas trying to sort the trees in the forest of my own mind is a granular, often poorly understood, ditch-digging process.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Socrates' voice, Plato suggested that "…the unexamined mind is not worth living…" but what the heck! Where does one start? I suppose, like anything else…at the beginning.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are resources…</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is where, like a good sourdough bread 'starter,' moral teachings prime the pump! At least, that's what they should do. There are many of them around, most of which provide early guidance on the road to personal enlightenment, whatever that means. Gail and I both have ways of thinking about this process…and it is a process.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are Five Precepts in Buddhist thought:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Refrain from:</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• taking life. • wrong speech.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• taking what is not given. • intoxicants that cloud the mind</span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• misuse of the senses.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gail has helped me understand by putting some practical 'meat on the bone' of these concepts. They are meant to be more than bright, shining stop-and-go signs. Still, ideas are to be meditated on and incorporated into one's behavior – spiritual as well as physical…to minimize the pain of life from the suffering of life (Buddhist concept).</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Judeo-Christian teachings, the Ten Commandments are a core foundation. Of the ten, the initial four recommend how we interact with God, the universal intellect from whom we emerged.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The last six suggest the way we should interact with our human brethren.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Honor your father and mother.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Thou shalt not steal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Thou shalt not commit adultery.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Thou shalt not steal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s hours, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These teachings are essential in guiding our lives but suggest, as with Buddhist thought, things we should NOT do. They infer behavior corrections lead to enlightenment, salvation, and otherwise happy lives.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Important thoughts indeed, but what are the operational things we should do? Being totally reactive isn’t necessarily helpful if we don’t have a blueprint.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Providing a path is valuable, but it is asking questions that help us get on our way.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> • Why are we here? • What are our dreams?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> • What do we expect? • Do we have a purpose?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> • What do we want to gain? • What would that be?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These are not easy subjects and require effort to sort out. I mean, where do we start?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My doctoral advisor believed in negative reinforcement as an educational philosophy. There was nothing…no paper, exam, or class presentation that was good enough. It's challenging to learn when most of the feedback one gets is not constructive...a metaphor for some of the ways we are taught in our religious experiences.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In my view, criticism is not a particularly good way for people to learn unless help is provided to correct mistakes. This should be the role of teachers, mentors, ministers, and parents.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Depending on our teachings, we are told to meditate, maybe with a mantra, or encouraged to "…go into our closet and pray…."</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The questions become – pray about what? And for what?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is it good enough to simply ask to feel better about ourselves, solve a family or work issue, be a better person, or find our calling? Is it our expectation that we will be struck with a lightning bolt of enlightenment?</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To be continued…</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-69916551921774142402023-01-09T11:46:00.007-08:002023-01-09T12:20:14.291-08:00Aging gracefully…<p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“On the subject of exercise requirements, senior citizens need<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">to let go of the idea that somehow, they’re different from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">the rest of the population because of their age.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Doug McGuff, MD – <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Body By Science</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p class="p2" style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I was rolling over in bed one night during the COVID and was struck by the fact it was taking some effort. Effort I had not remembered needing. I’m a good-sized animal with long limbs, all of which take coordination to move around. Moving them has been a matter of unconscious habit as long as I have lived in this space suit. It wasn't that I couldn't roll over...it was that I had to put previously unrecognized effort into the simple task. Now that I was aware, I noticed it on subsequent nights.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I was experiencing the insidious creep of musculoskeletal weakening, what we call in professional terms, sarcopenia – not a disease, but the normal loss of muscle mass that accompanies aging.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Aging?!! What the heck!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Okay, I don’t think ‘<b>I</b>’ am getting older, but it seems my raiment is wearing out.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I also noticed the nights seemed a little nippier in the desert winters. That had not caught my attention because I enjoy a cooler environment – I usually put on another layer and am as comfy as can be. And yes, the temperature at night during the winter months in the desert southwest does require sweaters and jackets!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Some history…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Over the years, in addition to my professional clinical work, I gave untold numbers of presentations to senior citizens in a variety of venues, regarding the importance of exercise. In that day, the presentations covered stretching, strengthening, endurance, and balance. These people were usually north of 70 years. Generally, most folks shuffled slowly into the rooms with a small number using canes or walkers. But then there were always one or two that came with a bounce in their step.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I always asked those ‘bounce steppers’ what accounted for their gait, balance, and apparent energy. Without exception over the years, the answer was that they strength trained.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">S<i>keletal muscle</i>, broadly considered an organ system, consists of more than six hundred fifty individual muscles in the body. They are the metabolic energy-producing engines that stabilize (think posture) and are responsible for all voluntary movement. Better muscle integrity – greater functional ability.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A little data…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The National Center for Health Services estimates only 26% of older Americans (65 yrs+) do regular exercise, despite recommendations by healthcare professionals for quality of life benefits. Of that group, most do aerobic (cardio) activity (e.g., walk, jog, swim, bike, etc.,). This isn’t much different than the general adult population (18 yrs+), where 25% percent of all adults over 18 actively exercise. Of that group (including seniors) 7% participate in resistance training, and yet, muscle mass is the only voluntarily active system in the body that permits movement freedom and increases overall bodily function! </span><span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Elgaddal N, Kramarow EA, Ruben C, Physical Activity Among Adults Aged 18 and Over: United States, 2020, NCHS Data Brief, no. 443, Aug 2020 <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db443.htm"><span class="s3" style="color: #0b4cb4;">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db443.htm</span></a>)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span><span class="s4" style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">For context, the numbers in the CDC link have not changed in the forty years I have worked in health care.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">While strength training does not get the exposure aerobic (cardio) exercise does, many studies indicate older people not only can increase their strength/muscle mass and functional abilities but also lower resting blood pressure, increase bone density, manage body fat, increase aerobic (cardio) capacity, have better balance and regulation of body temperature. In some cases, resistance training also helps normalize blood lipid profiles and increases G.I. transit time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XoNNN8RJblWMfTggqslC5VpFKLbgTeFujtC-bGjizs0DwynNHp7ylaTW5owrjNtCML1Bcbmnb0UE2HGdw-XVwiX93T1g-4ZRuBGS9mTS9gZPWjECD25VEml5pArUCS5yvYES65t6e_HACdoJta_hYWme6rbx2YjQWeg95pAeWg5keHYQ5_pRiz1R/s1356/Screenshot%202023-01-09%20at%2012.03.36.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="1006" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XoNNN8RJblWMfTggqslC5VpFKLbgTeFujtC-bGjizs0DwynNHp7ylaTW5owrjNtCML1Bcbmnb0UE2HGdw-XVwiX93T1g-4ZRuBGS9mTS9gZPWjECD25VEml5pArUCS5yvYES65t6e_HACdoJta_hYWme6rbx2YjQWeg95pAeWg5keHYQ5_pRiz1R/w148-h200/Screenshot%202023-01-09%20at%2012.03.36.png" width="148" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Cardio exercise does not increase muscle mass and burns very few calories (100 calories per walking mile and a little more from jogging). Think of that donut (190-300 calories). There are 3,500 calories in a pound, so it doesn’t take much math to see endurance exercise by itself is not a successful weight management strategy. And, cardio exercise on its own does not increase muscle. An elderly man who has been a runner, has the leg muscle size of non-exercising peers (photo on right).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Strength training, on the other hand, increases muscle mass to help burn those calories more efficiently. A seventy-year-old man who has done regular strength training will have thigh muscle the size of a 40-year-old (graphic below left)…diet, of course is the key.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ2T_kY-m--C1jPJY6ANUfpEMTY4sC-KxBjexzQOw6UczBh-JMIH_Fhbq2syeR6bvs4g9XXPooms2MWYzHpcETRct3-ZTu_55q1hEI2S5qVZ5OyrFMovM6NC0AFVXEmgfa9uElMj_UdfSgYMF8rUo_OOM7wzF4RRcbpm3CNqpwVJKHXm781yXAQDML/s1602/Screenshot%202023-01-09%20at%2012.04.56.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1602" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ2T_kY-m--C1jPJY6ANUfpEMTY4sC-KxBjexzQOw6UczBh-JMIH_Fhbq2syeR6bvs4g9XXPooms2MWYzHpcETRct3-ZTu_55q1hEI2S5qVZ5OyrFMovM6NC0AFVXEmgfa9uElMj_UdfSgYMF8rUo_OOM7wzF4RRcbpm3CNqpwVJKHXm781yXAQDML/w320-h195/Screenshot%202023-01-09%20at%2012.04.56.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Pitch…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It is never too late to begin a resistance training program, regardless of age. If you are a senior reading this, you might be astounded at the functional improvements accompanying resistance training. Research has shown that even ninety-year-olds have displayed remarkable increases in function through supervised strength training.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It is true; in the end, our batteries run out. But resistance training can extend personal health and function much longer. If done properly, it is the best preventative medicine in which human beings can engage. Older people do not need to be treated with kid gloves. As long as strengthening is done carefully, their bodies will respond in positive ways.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Aging and reduction in function is inevitable, but the rate at which it happens is partly in our hands. For me? Independence as much as possible…as long as possible.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">-ted</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* </span><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">Note: Be sure to talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise program</span></span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-37365038374169977602022-12-04T08:21:00.003-08:002022-12-04T09:50:27.131-08:00Death Trap - a play in two acts...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Do something that scares you every day.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">You have nothing to lose but fear itself.”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: right; text-indent: -24px;">-<span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Dali Lama</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At six-thirty p.m., on an October evening, a disparate group of five people gathered together for six weeks – give or take a day or two, to rehearse for a community theatre production of Ira Levin’s <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Death Trap</span>. Most of us knew each other, and for the fifth time since early 2019, I got to ‘play’ with a group of seasoned and talented actors.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Act one – a little background…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I left the military and returned to school in the early 1970s. I made myself busy because I was lonely. I joined the track team, worked as a janitor, and had an evening radio show, but I was untethered. In those days, it wasn't popular to have been in the military, particularly as a participant in the Vietnam war. So, packing as much into a day as possible was an artificial means of keeping loneliness at bay.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: medium; text-decoration-line: underline;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Had Albert Camus written a sequel to <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">L’Étranger</span> (<span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">The Stranger</span>), his theme of absurdist existential crisis, could have used my return to American society as a template.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: medium; text-decoration-line: underline;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Did I mention I was lonely?</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most of my nonevent-filled time was spent in the library. It was a safe place to study and hide when I wasn’t doing other things. Despite being busy, education <i><b>was</b></i> the primary reason for being back in school. One day, I saw a flyer announcing auditions for a college play. The notice said the theatre department was looking for two lead actors and two narrators for a production by the Irish playwright Brian Friel called <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Lovers</span>.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hmmm, I thought. Maybe I could audition for one of the narrators. After all, I was doing radio. It would be another time-filling project to keep my mind busy and stave off the internal isolation I was trying so desperately to ignore. Yeah, this was a good idea!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was a good idea until I did not get the narrator part, but the male actor in the play.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hmmm, I thought. I would need to reach back into one of those secret rooms tucked away in my neurochemistry for the resources to do something like this. This was a problem because I DID NOT have a room, secret or otherwise, from which to draw. I had never done any theatre.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That play was one of the most challenging, exciting, terrifying, and humbling experiences of my life. It was the first time I realized that the people on stage were only a small part of a team of set designers/builders, costume makers, make-up artists, musicians, in addition to the director. I also realized that all those people were counting on the folks on stage to bring to fruition their hard work. No pressure!!<br /><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the end the experience was a success, thanks to a theatre community that took a young lonely, wayfaring stranger into their midst and made him a part of their family.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That was then!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: medium; text-decoration-line: underline;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Act two – this is now…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2018, after retiring and teaching at a local community college, I joined a local theatre board. It was a new venture in our town, the vision of a retired woman who had many years of theatrical experience in Chicago. Tucson has a robust theatre community with several active companies. Oro Valley did not have one. She thought it should. Through sheer force of will, and a ‘with a little help from her friends,’ she brought the company into existence.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The first play was Thorton Wilder’s <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Our Town</span>. She asked if I would consider auditioning. Because of my vast theatrical experience and rich thespian instincts, I agreed! What was I thinking!!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Unbelievably, I got the part of a country doctor. It was odd to appreciate that even though it had been over fifty-one years since being one of the <span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Lovers</span>, the feelings of uncertainty returned as if it were yesterday. As it had been in that day, the experience was challenging, exciting, terrifying, humbling, and in the end – satisfying!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few shows with minor parts followed, although it should be said there are not many roles for someone of my tender years. Despite my wrinkled machinery, the little fellow that lives inside this organic space suit, still feels the excitement of emerging possibilities, and is happy when there is the opportunity to ‘play.’</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Preparing the trap…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, the weeks of working together resulted in the cast bonding from the united effort. This could only have happened because of our director's gentle and well-seasoned hand. The weeks sped by, as we pulled together, laughed together, forgot lines together, covered for one another’s mistakes, and polished the text, as words and characters from a one-dimensional script materialized into a three-dimensional theatrical production.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Death Trap</span> is a convoluted story of murder, intrigue, betrayal, with unexpected twists and turns. It is an entertaining, and sometimes humorous morality tale of the consequence of lust and greed…a story that reminds the audience that, no matter what, one never really gets away with violating the Creator’s natural law.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The play was a success. We sold out all five performances.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">All good things...</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After the last performance, we struck the set (took it down). We hugged, said our goodbyes, and returned to our separate lives. There is always the promise that “…we should get together sometime…” but that seldom happens.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like the morning mists on a summer pond, it all slipped into the ether. The experience was exciting, and like all of life, temporary. The brief journey complete – the time well spent.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The aftermath…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a sense of empty nesting, a little melancholy that settles in from the spot that had been filled with so much collective focus and energy. It is not surprising I have similar feelings at the end of each semester of teaching.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the cycle of life. Nothing is permanent. I don’t see this as a negative. Each adventure brings something new and is renewed with the next voyage we take. The real question is – what do we take away from the experience?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I loved doing this show. Now it is tucked away in my aging neurochemistry. Now <i>there is</i> a secret room from which I can draw if something new emerges.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Next? Who knows?</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I still feel a little like a '...stranger in a strange land...' from time to time. There is still a quietly whispering and nagging voice of loneliness. But I have learned how to turn inward and build a meaningful home within my mind. I have learned that words, ideas, and experiences aren’t just passing scenery, but can comfort and sustain us.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moving forward…remaining curious…seeking the unknown...opening doors without fully knowing what's behind them…stretching minds as much as possible…these are the keys. They do require saying yes. They do require choosing.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's impossible to know what the future will bring. So it is a useless exercise to project the relevance of our lives into tomorrow. All we have is today; dare I say, all we have is the breath of this very moment. We are promised nothing more.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Death Trap</span> was a great metaphor for the consequence of making poor choices. But, trapped by death? That’s not the way I look at things.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As far as I’m concerned, I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-20774540049263527102022-11-13T09:31:00.004-08:002022-11-14T05:30:58.057-08:00Trust - fragile and time consuming...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“He who does not trust enough<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">will not be trusted”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Lao Tzu</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She’s an eight pounder, white, with a grey circular highlighting. Generally, well before 5am, this creature climbs over me and after pacing back and forth from one end of the bed to the other, gently snuggles in. A purring machine, she slaps me with her tail until I pet her, pull on her ears and scratch her sides. It’s an evolving drill in a long distance run with a cat that had been abused before coming to our home.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Cats…a way of life…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We were a close-knit family of five for seventeen years. We all lived in Missouri, Michigan, California, and finally here in Arizona. As our girls aged and began to slip away, our hearts were filled with sorrow.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We lost Sarah first. She had taken Molly as her own. It was seldom they were not found together wherever they were in the house. She followed her everywhere. It wasn’t that she didn’t have affection for me, but the focus was my girlfriend. Sometimes I got the glance that said, “Sure you married the girl, but let’s be clear, <i>you</i> need to get in line!”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Leah was the second to leave us. She was in many ways mine. If I were outside on the patio reading in the mornings, she sat beside me. Working at my desk, she lay in languorous repose a few inches from the keyboard. She particularly liked to be on my lap, sitting neatly between my arms so as not to interfere with the keyboard. In the mornings she climbed into bed, for a few minutes with the clear message, “Glad you are awake. This is a limited time snuggle because I’m hungry.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hannah was the last. If there was ever an independent cat it was she! She was hefty. I’m not sure she would have described herself as overweight, possibly just big boned. Despite her size, she had the physical grace and balance of a ballerina. Hannah did what she wanted, when she wanted. It was like we were in our home for her pleasure. “Feed me and keep that litter box clean. Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” She was her own cat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As with the other two, losing her was heart breaking. We would need to construct a new family.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Losing the known and embracing the unknown is a casual definition of change.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Who knew - two new...</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our new cats came from a local no kill shelter. Molly had seen one online and had it in her heart to bring it home. As it turns out, Abie had significant problems stemming from being hit by a car in Puerto Rico just before Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017. He had sustained a broken jaw, a few teeth and a torn soft palate in the roof of his mouth. It required two surgeries and a couple of weeks with a feeding tube, inserted into his esophagus. In the end, the surgeries were a success. He settled in as though he had always lived here.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there was Lena. She caught my attention because she had isolated herself on an elevated platform where she didn’t have to interact with the kittens in her area. I went to pet her, and she bit me. She wasn’t aloof, she was terrified. We learned she had been badly abused, particularly by males. She had come to the shelter from a county facility and transferred to the shelter where we found her.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Working things out...</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For months, when I came near the cat, she growled and swatted, frequently drawing blood. Nonetheless, I kept after her, picking her up for brief moments, petting and talking to her. I began giving little chats.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I chuckle when I think about these one-way conversations. I would say, “I love you, Lena and am so glad you are a part of our family.” She would hear, “blah, blah, blah, blah.” It’s kind of strange that in those moments I would speak to her as if she understood English (don’t we all do this?). What isn’t so strange is that, over time, she began to understand, dare I say, embrace the message, maybe better said, she got my feelings.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the next year or so, Lena began wandering into bed by my side in the mornings for a few seconds. Seconds turned into minutes and by now several years later, whether it is the early morning and time to get up, reading just before going to sleep, an afternoon nap, or working on the computer. she comes to be with me. If she doesn’t like something I’m doing, she gently nips as if to say, “Okay, enough of that.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That cat captured my heart, and I continue work on hers. She has taught me that trust, real trust, takes time and consistency.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Isn’t this the way life is intended to be regardless of the creatures with whom we interact? Shouldn’t we be nonthreatening and loving to those around us…particularly our own species who have been abused and marginalized?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes indeed, when that eight pounder climbs over me in the mornings, I am grateful that I have found such a patient and loving companion.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-72797691402315008972022-11-06T06:44:00.003-08:002022-11-06T12:15:48.038-08:00We who are closer to the end salute you...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">"…a man may have lived long and yet lived but little.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">Make use of time while it is present with you…”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Michel de Montaigne</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Gosh, mom. He's an old geezer!"<br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It wasn’t the best way for a six-year-old to return a greeting to a stranger in her home, but it was memorable. I was in Salt Lake City to give a talk at a state Workers' Compensation conference and had been invited to stay in an attorney's home.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thank goodness it was only my appearance the youngster was responding to.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Jogging the memory…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was reminded of that little girl while thinking recently about aging. I suppose entertaining these kinds of thoughts is natural when 'bathing in soup' of one’s mid-seventies.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Several years ago, while also thinking about this topic, I read a book by Louise Aronson, <span class="s1"><u>Elderhood</u></span>. Aronson is a geriatrician at UC San Francisco. Geriatrician comes from the Greek ‘Geras’ (old age) and ‘Iatrikos’ (referring to physician). She suggested most physicians are not trained in medicine for senior citizens, so it is a good idea to find one who is.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The elderly, and I can’t believe I am actually referring to myself as such, do not fall into the ‘youth to middle-aged adult’ medical paradigms. Things change as we age. Strength decreases significantly after 65. The immune system loses its earlier resiliency, the liver does not metabolize as well, and the kidneys do not clear toxins as they once did. Intellectual capacities, both processing and memories, show varying levels of decline.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You read about these things when you are young but live them when you are older!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For the most part, we don't think about getting older. Seconds turn into minutes, then to hours, days, and years, and before we know it, the bathing suit we arrived on the planet with is all wrinkled up! It is so insidious that we don’t realize that we can't do the things we used to until, you know, we try to do them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I love teaching anatomy and physiology in retirement. But every system chapter has a section on what happens to us as we slip toward senescence and the ultimate homeostasis where systolic and diastolic pressures are the same — 0/0! While it can be disheartening, and stopping the process is impossible, one can slow it down.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is not about being “…as young as you feel…” or “…age is just a number….” - often patronizingly expressed by younger folks with cheery voices, rosy cheeks, and mostly painless lives!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Whew! I need to change tack before I write myself into a death spiral of the big sleep.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Changing tack…</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoojXuqF7UDjKTIqbGU-xqdnzrqDi_4rx28A6Fbt73qoTRPV-49KPkXfuRx4e9OweHpxEo6l-E8dsG-EUqhmR2c6hrzNXCMqcF3ZnOgGuWX0r20BWH2kMQ_-cRUZKA78Kfq9E2cpYAt1L7XWKE95vwj7FrOItS2wMT_uLmAhQgomi7xzc3yKb_BKI/s2945/Office%20boxed%20phrases.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2945" data-original-width="2208" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoojXuqF7UDjKTIqbGU-xqdnzrqDi_4rx28A6Fbt73qoTRPV-49KPkXfuRx4e9OweHpxEo6l-E8dsG-EUqhmR2c6hrzNXCMqcF3ZnOgGuWX0r20BWH2kMQ_-cRUZKA78Kfq9E2cpYAt1L7XWKE95vwj7FrOItS2wMT_uLmAhQgomi7xzc3yKb_BKI/s320/Office%20boxed%20phrases.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">When thoughts of impending end-of-life slip into the chunk of oatmeal between my ears, it's easy to agree with them. That is why I have some phrases taped to a charcoal drawing of a reclining skeleton on my wall – reminders I might add, that have meaning to me.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I look at them every day:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Don’t believe everything you think</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Be suspicious of simple solutions</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Science is not fact. It's a process of revelation</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Sensation – Reflection</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Thoughts received – Opinions created</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Strong opinions…loosely held</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">·<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Yes – no</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The first three are apparent. The last four probably need a little explanation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>“Sensation – Reflection”</i> is the process by which we know everything. What we sense and reflect on is who/what we are! Touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell provide input from which we decide what to do or think.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>“Thoughts received – Opinions created”</i> - Opinions are the only things over which we have control. Take a moment to consider this. Maybe we can't regulate what comes in, but we can decide what to believe. What we do accept becomes the opinions we nurture and grow.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><i style="font-size: large;">“Strong opinions…loosely held”</i><span style="font-size: medium;"> is an addition to the previous note and is one of the most important on the list. I remind myself every day that while I am confident in the things I believe, I need to be open to changing opinions when I discover I'm wrong. Lau Tzu says, “When things are young, they are supple. When they are old, they are stiff." </span><span class="s3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">(<u>Tao Te Ching</u>)<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> It takes work to try to remain ‘supple.’</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>“Yes – No”</i> We are binary creatures. We can only say yes or no. A 'no' means nothing happens – sometimes a good thing… A 'yes' opens the possibility of repeating the yes/no process. Saying 'yes' moves the dial forward.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Adding a little meat to the bone – we genuinely have no absolute control over our jobs, families, friends, health, or anything else in life…all of it can disappear in a split second. So while we have a sense of stability, we know life (ours or that of others) is temporary and fragile.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A recipe…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Knowing there are no guarantees, I prefer to think of aging as the continual practice of attempting to acquire wisdom. It goes something like this:</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Live</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Make mistakes</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Learn from mistakes</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Repeat steps 1 – 3 until wisdom is acquired</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Realize the wisdom gained in step 4 was not really wisdom at all but possibly a <i>kind </i>of wisdom</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">6.<span class="s2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Repeat steps 1 – 5 for the rest of your life.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The bullet points and the list represent daily reminders of the importance of not giving in to time and gravity. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Surprisingly, these small words and phrases are very helpful as the journey continues. I'm not smart enough to have thought of them on my own. But, peeking into the minds of other fellow travelers keeps the pump of life primed.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And by the way, some days if I were as young as I felt, I would just go back to bed!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-30122689499619806712022-10-30T19:48:00.001-07:002022-10-31T06:17:42.328-07:00Life - it's shorter than we think...<p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose<span class="s1" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span class="s2" style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">it.</span> But with deeper reflection one knows from daily<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">life that one exists for other people.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: right;"> - Albert Einstein</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What would you have said, thought, or done had you known it was the last time you would see someone for whom you cared? A parent…a friend…a lover. The thoughtless expectation there would be another time…and then there wasn’t.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I was twelve and in the seventh grade.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The shoes were a size nine, a cream-colored pair of leather slip-ons. The upper, just ahead of the arch, was a tight black knitting. They were very cool and my father’s favorite pair. </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I had taken them (without permission) to go to a seventh-grade talent show hoping my dad would not find out. There was a girl in a homeroom across the hall; Marilyn was her name. For some reason, we had been paired to do a free-flowing duet to the strains of Frank Sinatra’s rendition of ‘High Hopes.’</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> “Next time you’re found<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">With your chin on the ground</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">There’s a lot to be learned</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">So look around…’</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;"> </p><p class="p6" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">Just what makes that little old ant</p><p class="p6" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">Think he'll move that rubber tree plant</p><p class="p6" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">Anyone knows an ant can't</p><p class="p6" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">Move a rubber tree plant</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">But he's got high hopes</p><p class="p7" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: 48px;"> </p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">He's got high hopes</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">He's got high apple pie</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">In the sky hopes</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">So any time you're gettin' low</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">'Stead of lettin' go</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">Just remember that ant</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;">Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant…”</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 48px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Those size nines were wonderful but only a transition to a foot growth ending in fourteens. But at the time, I was sure they would fit forever. A few months later, I tried to put them on, but alas, my feet had moved on, and I needed bigger shoes. They fit, and then they didn’t</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I enjoyed playing the part with that young girl and in fact, relished being around her through high school. She was creative, smart, driven, focused, a little narcissistic, and a worker bee. A person who seemed to know that where she lived was only a transition to where she was going - and it wasn’t to stay in the town of her birth. I thought we would always be friends. But she had high hopes for bigger shoes, and over time, she found them. She was there, and then she wasn’t.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My best friend in high school was John. There was little we didn’t do together. Like two peas in a pod, I thought we would be friends "forever and a day…" Like Marilyn, John was brilliant, thoughtful, sensitive, and the best friend a young fellow could have. Then, life happened, and lessons were learned from missteps. It was a hard, in those days, to understand that life was fluid…things would not always remain the same. As with Marilyn, the universe had other plans. He was there, and then he wasn’t.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I did not understand the nature of change. Life was supposed to remain constant, wasn’t it? It had certainly seemed that way when I was young. I mean, it did in my brain. But my heart needed to learn that life was constantly on the move, adjusting, and becoming something different and new. Things and people were there, and then they weren’t</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Losing my high school friends was confusing and painful. As time passed, I learned to be more careful with the people for whom I cared. I came to appreciate that in youth, what appeared to be permanent, so easily slipped away.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In my life, there have been many transactional relationships — people I have enjoyed and with whom I have had meaningful experiences. But true friendships? Close and consequential relationships? Folks for whom I have removed barriers to entry in my life?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There have been few. Life lessons have taught me to cherish and cultivate them…they are the ones who have continued to feed my soul. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In the last few years, I have lost some of those few. The ones with whom I had a deep and abiding love. They were there, and then they weren't.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When I post notifications about a blog, I generally say, "If you love someone – tell 'em.” This is not a casual comment, because, in fact, you may never be able to let them know.</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Close friends in my youth slipped away because I did not appreciate the importance of 'tending the garden.'</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">At this time of my life, I understand the uncertainty and the reality of loss. So, I tell people I love them because, you know, it could be the last time…</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">- ted</p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-1354743341783491042022-10-02T13:54:00.010-07:002022-10-02T14:09:19.181-07:00Out of the darkness came a heart...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Love is like a child that longs<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">for everything it can come by.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"> - William Shakespeare</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The room was pitch black.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It had been a busy day. More activity than I was used to. It was one of those nights where you hope that when you fall forward, like one of those outward-bound programs, you will land in something soft, safe, and comforting. I think I remember hitting the bed!</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sometime in the night and somewhere in the reaches of my mind there came what appeared to be ragged breathing. As consciousness tugged at the curtain of sleep, the irregular hissing seemed to get louder.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I dream every night and have had only one nightmare in my life. Fifty years later and in a state of semi-consciousness, I wondered whether this might be my second one. You know the senselessness of REM sleep when you’re trying to hang on to the imagery of the night. The time when the most outrageous, seems normal and acceptable.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lying on my left side facing inward on the bed, I suddenly felt a sharp poking on my right shoulder blade. This was not a soft-landing ‘return to the world.’ What the heck was going on. I felt a surge of adrenaline and I was awake – moderately confused but awake!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In this state of moderate bewilderment, I heard the voice of a five-year-old, “I can’t sleep. Can I get in bed with you?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was three a.m.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When I am asleep, there is little short of a fire alarm, house security system, or metabolic urgency that can wake me up. I didn’t hear the youngster open the door or come in the room and I don’t know how long he stood by the side of the bed unsure of how to get my attention. But get it he did.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Shaking my head to clear the final cobwebs, I said, “Climb on in boy,” and up he came. He may be all of four feet in height, I am unsure, but when I put my arms around him in a gentle hug, it seemed like there was little there. After a few minutes, I said, “Why don’t I turn over and you can hug me?” As his little arm came from behind, part way across my rib cage, we both drifted off to sleep where we remained through the night.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Some back story…</b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My niece and her hubby were looking forward to a little holiday time together. With three young children and two busy medical practices, not to mention the COVID, there had been little time for them to spend together.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">They asked whether we might be willing to come for a few days to take care of the youngsters, while they were gone. I had not seen the children in person for more than two years because of the COVID, and never met the little girl in person. Molly had slipped east between the Delta and Omicron variants to spend a few days, but I remained home with the cats. I knew the kids really loved her, but how would they react to me? Maybe more to the point, how would I react to them.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We were excited about the opportunity to spend time with the two boys, and to meet the two-year-old girl. Since Molly and I don’t have children, my niece and her family are the closest to grandchildren (grand nephews and nieces really) that we have.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When the time came, we hopped on a plane from Tucson and headed out for the unknown adventure in the household of my niece.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As it turned out, it was a great adventure. Any trepidation I had trying to help Molly manage the children slipped away when we walked in the door. They pulled us in to their hearts so quickly, it was as if we had been them every weekend from their births.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Two days after we arrived, my niece and her hubby were out the door for their well-earned, if too short, holiday. The rest of the week was a family bonding that I had not really expected.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The boys and I played a little basketball, some board games, and visited a school playground. I was a vicarious participant in the age-appropriate video games they played with a finesse that belied their tender ages. My favorite time with them was in the morning when they reluctantly got up to the strains of “Good morning fellow Campers…” a song my mother wakened us most cottage mornings on holidays in Canada. As I sang to their sleepy faces in the mornings, I felt the softness and joy of my mother’s love. The second best time was reading to them before bed.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Most importantly, we all felt safe together. The parents returned from their time together tired but appeared to have enjoyed themselves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When it was time to leave, we all left a little teary-eyed, vowing to see one another as soon as the time was right again...the memory of the shared experience with that little guy embedded in my heart.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I was reminded of Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">The Little Prince</span>. The prince tames a fox and they become friends. When it is time to say goodbye, the fox says he will tell the little prince a secret.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> “Good-bye,” he said.</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> “Good-bye,” said the fox.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -48px;">“Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”</p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -48px;"> </p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; text-indent: -6px;">And so it was…</p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; text-indent: -6px;"> </p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; text-indent: -6px;">- ted</p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-76588355766242327662022-09-11T06:34:00.001-07:002022-09-11T20:23:21.692-07:00A small, miraculous event...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Jesus called them unto him, and said, suffer<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">little children to come unto me…for</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">of such is the kingdom of God.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">Matthew 19:14 kjv</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mom and dad were out. She was asleep for her afternoon nap. I was the adult in the house.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Full disclosure. While I have had lots of experience with children, my wife and I have had none. I'm the guy who comes, plays, laughs, hugs, reads before bedtime, and then goes home. There are nuances of child management that can only come from the bone-weary, extended exposure to day-in and day-out child-rearing. Did I mention I’m the guy who comes, plays, etc.?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We, the boys, and I were playing a game downstairs. The speaker on the counter, connected to the two-year-old napping girl, made a slight squeaking sound. The older boy said, “Maybe I should check to see how she is doing.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A relevant aside…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Being a great uncle, meaning their mother's uncle, I’m pretty good with the kids. There is never a time when I’m not happy to be with these youngsters, but I’m still working on becoming a ‘great’ great uncle! Not being clear on all the household guidelines, I said, “You probably should not disturb her.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I just want to check to make sure she is alright.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before I knew it, the older boy was on his way up the stairs, followed by his younger brother. A quick check and back to the game. What possibly could go wrong?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The boys were away longer than I expected for a quick check on the baby. Heading upstairs, I discovered the baby was out of the crib. The younger boy was now in it and the older boy was on the floor playing with a wide-awake child who was supposed to be sound asleep! Their joint, 'deer in a headlights' look as I entered the room said it all. This was not good. While not intimate to all the guidelines for the house, this was, no doubt, well beyond the boundaries.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I brought the little girl downstairs, thinking I should play with her since she was fully awake. But, on the other hand, there was a nagging suspicion that this youngster should really be sound asleep in her crib and not playing with her pretty good ‘great uncle.’</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Picking up, by now, a fully animated child, I headed up the stairs and back to her room.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">What to do?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Turning off the lights, we slipped on to a large, overstuffed chair. I leaned back, with this tiny thing lying on my chest – head up, alert, looking around the room as if she were on guard duty. Fully stretched out with her head at my shoulder, her toes didn't reach my knees.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I had no plan!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then this primal thing began to happen. I suppose one might argue it was the release of oxytocin (the cuddle hormone), but I was overcome by the wonder of this little one lying there. We were chest to chest, breath to breath, heart to heart. I found myself letting go and channeling my mother…a little humming and singing. I could hear mum’s voice, “Trust the process, Teddy, just trust the process.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You know the expression, “The quieter you become, the more you hear." I could <i>feel</i> her breaths and heart as she glanced from side to side, eyes dancing. I could <i>feel</i> my breath and heartbeat slow as we fell into an ancient rhythm. She glanced up at me, her eyes a little less focused, a little less clear. Her head bobbed up and down, then softly landed on the runway of my chest…she was out.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Something was soothing about all of this. I wondered whether I should pick her up and put her back in her crib, but for the moment, she and I were connected, joined in a moment of harmony I was unwilling to interrupt. Eventually, I reluctantly lifted and placed her gently back in her crib wondering whether the movement might wake her? It did not. Her lights were out.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My lights? Fully energized. That little girl…those moments shared were pure enchantment.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My mother was right. I understood what every loving parent knows. It was, as it always has been, the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Two souls, bereft of time, bereft of age, bereft of gender, floating together in the rhythm of the universe.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Magic?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-82849938691971105562022-08-30T13:28:00.002-07:002022-08-30T13:28:32.097-07:00She lived in my home...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“The past is done, the </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">future's a choice.”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: right; text-indent: -24px;">-<span class="s1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Anonymous</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As we sat eating Thai food for dinner, I couldn’t help but wonder at this woman with whom I had journeyed my entire life. In fact, she is the only person who has known me from birth – the last one!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I appeared when she was two, like an alien from an unknown world. It was 'household interruptus.' She had to share parental time!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A little background…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Growing up, I didn’t know my maternal grandmother. She departed the planet sometime before I arrived. I did know Martha Jackson, my paternal grandmother. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the woman. A lioness, protector of the Pride. She was a force of nature, always seeming to know exactly what to do. The men in her orbit were weak by comparison. Indeed, she never seemed intimidated by anyone of that gender.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For all the sound and fury of my Nana Jackson, the women of my mother’s family appeared comparatively docile. That would be if you didn't know them. There was little apparent outward drama in their lives, but in their own ways were forces of nature. At a time when women were expected to be in the background and subservient to men, they carved out their own lives.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mother’s family was eight. Three boys and three girls…My mother, her fraternal twin, and an older sister all significantly impacting my life.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our family was five. Two girls and me. My sisters carried on the tradition of the women from which they emerged. They were bright and strong. My late sister Nancy invariably stood at the bow of her life's ship, and anyone who met her knew it. Wind in her face, there seemed nothing she couldn’t do. Losing her was like losing a part of us.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there was my dinner partner on this warm summer's evening in Columbia, Maryland – my sister Anne.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Following her heart…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like the women that preceded her, Anne cut her own path. From an early age, she was drawn to the world of music. Something in it touched her deeply, and as the future came for her, she mastered a professional craft within which she labored, lived, and thrived.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anne is a teacher of music – voice to be specific – and singer. One might think that mastering this art craft would take all of her energies, but one would be wrong. She is a lover and student of nature - among many other things. For example, she can identify multitudes of birds by their songs. A veritable encyclopedic resource, she knows their origins and migration patterns.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She is an excellent cook and a compassionate, profoundly committed mother/grandmother. She has two adult children – a boy and a girl. If you ask about them, be prepared for sparkly-eyed stories of how amazing they are.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She is not loud, nor in my view, particularly outgoing. But those entering her orbit soon discover she is a bottomless source of wisdom, inspiration, and knowledge. In her late seventies, she is a seemingly indefatigable creature who time and again comes to the aid of others, regardless of the cost to her. If you talked to the students in her stable, you would discover she is so much more than a voice teacher…she is a teacher of life!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">How we got to dinner…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anne and I have taken quite different paths in our lives, and while we shared a home and a brief time at university, we were fully occupied going about the business finding ourselves and growing up.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the years, due to geography, substantial family responsibilities, and vastly different career paths, we were never as close as we desired. We saw each other from time to time when I had business in her area, but these were brief visits.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite growing up in the same home, it is probably accurate to say, I didn’t know her very well. But, life has slowed in my seventies, and I desire to know and understand her better - not as siblings but as friends.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She took the initiative during the Covid as if she had tapped into the universe and found my feelings. I got an email suggesting we make a Zoom lunch together. What a great idea! We did a couple of them. They led to phone calls and to deeper communication with one another.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh! The dinner…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anne lives in Vienna, Virginia, a community near Washington, D.C. She was going to visit an ill friend near Philadelphia. I was visiting my niece and her family in Columbia, Maryland, so she practically had to drive by the house.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I suggested dinner, and here we were. We laughed, told stories, and reminisced about many things related to our time as children, sharing household and life. We had barely scratched the surface when it was time to head home.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anne decided to spend the night, and after breakfast, I tried to get her to stay a while longer, but she had a schedule and time commitment. So we decided to set regular ‘talk times’ and put them on the calendar.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Is there a point here?</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've tried not to take people for granted in my life, yet I had done so with my sister.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the blog reminder I send, I write that if we care about someone, we should tell them…the undercurrent being we all need reminding we have worth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Whenever my sister and I communicated over the years, I ended by saying, "love you." There is a difference, however, when the personal pronoun ‘I’ precedes the expression.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To be clear, to this woman who has always known me and is the holder of many of my secrets…</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anne, life is short...I covet your breath!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Je t’aime…I love you!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-60200208389186364132022-08-22T06:47:00.045-07:002022-08-22T07:39:40.067-07:00Companionship? It's built in...<p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">Two can be as bad as one, it’s the loneliest<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">number since the number one…”</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Harry Nilsson,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">American Songwriter</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our species are social creatures. Regardless of our education, gender, culture, or economic status, we want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Maybe it’s a church group, a club, a professional organization, the military, or even a gang. We seek other people with similar interests to become part of a larger mission.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What do we share? What do we look for?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few of us have artistic talents…art, sculpture, music. Even if we don't have these kinds of gifts, most of us can tell a story. We want to plant an image and feeling in our minds to another person.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The stories might be big, or little, or something common. They could be about an unexpected event, what happened during the day, a trip we took, or an unexpected meeting with someone that made an impact. Social interaction often comes through telling one another tales. The good ones move us and stick with us. They’re more than just the facts, often sprinkled with irony, humor, and verbal images that add texture. We do this to find a shared space with other human beings.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>An insight (at least for me)…</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've been back in the classroom for the past few years. Early on, it was a struggle just to stay ahead of my students. But like most things we keep at, ideas and thoughts began to emerge that could not have come without the grind…meat on the bone as it were.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In this past summer’s class in anatomy & physiology (A&P) I was struck by the idea that our desire for social connection is much more organic that I appreciated. The pieces that make up the whole (anatomy), and the way the pieces interact (physiology) create the body that you and I inhabit. I say inhabit because 'we' – our consciousness, is housed in the billions of neurons in our brain. The is where 'we' live. Thinking about all of the interactions, caused me to think about the way even our physical bodies have interactive needs.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Building the house…<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The job of our physical body is to take completely different systems combing them into a complex piece of physical machinery that carries our brains around. Putting stuff in our brains, builds a different kind of body, one that is equally, and possibly, more complex.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let’s talk about the construction.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An A&P course begins with a bit of chemistry – mainly discussions of a few atoms. These tiny elements become components that build into successively larger pieces: Atoms > molecules > cells > tissue > organs > organ systems > fully integrated functioning bodies.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An atom has energy. It is made up of a nucleus with electrons buzzing around it. But atoms by themselves are pretty lonely. They are hungry to interact and bond with other atoms, some of their own kind (molecules) and others with different elements (molecular compounds).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As with the atom, however, molecules, by themselves, are meaningless unless they combine into something bigger, something with a greater purpose. Organic (and some inorganic) molecules become parts of cells.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We have trillions of cells, and while many of them look different (e.g., nervous, muscle, fat, liver, etc.), they all contain the same things. Each has little organs (organelles) that eat, drink, digest, dispose of waste, breathe, reproduce, and other things just like we do. In many ways, they are sort of like little people - microscopic people. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The nucleus of the cell and its inner part, the nucleolus, carry DNA, the genetic code, like an orchestral conductor, that contains growth instructions for pretty much everything.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like atoms and molecules, cells are drawn by a predetermined blueprint to join something greater than themselves. As they genetically differentiate, they form distinctive types of tissue (e.g., skin, muscle, lung, digestive, etc.).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That is good news, but even those tissues have a need to be part of something more too. As they grow, they clump (non-science term) together to form organs (e.g., heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now we're cooking! And yet…and yet, organs have little meaning until they interact with other organs into a working system. That working system is a coordinated body – a living creature, and in this context – us – human beings!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The epiphany for me was that from an atomic level on up, there is a genetic drive to interact with similar as well as different parts of the system. More than a metaphor, this is probably a biologic precursor for our drive to interact in shared experiences with other people - to be a part of something with greater purpose. When one group interacts with another, a social fabric begins to develop.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The prophet Ezekiel had a vision of a "…wheel in the middle of a wheel…" </span><span>(Eze 1:16)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">. A wheel, or circle, has no beginning and no end. It is a metaphor for the blueprint into which we have emerged. The cycle that uses atoms as building blocks to a fully realized body is completed when the atoms return to the dust from whence they came, recycled to begin the process again. They built a house to allow our minds to seek out things greater than ourselves - a miracle!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I believe when we shed the mortal coil within which we live, we become part of something greater - primed to be a sentient part of the fabric of the universe - God's mind. Like Ezekiel’s wheel, we become part of something which has no beginning nor end.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But that’s just me…</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-4192913110233332132022-08-16T13:27:00.001-07:002022-08-16T13:27:30.307-07:00Old friends...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“If we were completely unalike, we would be unable</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">to communicate. If we were completely alike,</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">we would have nothing to say.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">Jonathan Sacks: <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Not in God’s Name</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wednesday had been busy…the morning, the flight to San Diego, a baseball game, dinner, and a soft landing into the evening. The following few days included walks, meals, and quiet evening conversations as the California sun disappeared below the western horizon.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The chats were casual and intimate. You know, the kind…old friends don't need much ‘pump priming’ to slip into well-worn patterns and rhythms. The cadence polished by years of knowing one another…no need to find a space. It was already there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We live very different lives, but none of that really matters in the ebb and flow of our conversations. We understand the important things are not about our professions but our minds that have allowed us to grow and mature.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the thirty-five years, we have known one another, Scott has become a successful businessman. A strategic planner, thinker, deep listener, and diligent note taker…he doesn’t give much of his thinking away. Most folks don’t see the hours of thought he puts into his work until…until they see the results. What a lucky guy, some might say. He would respond we make our own luck – I would say…we make our own lives.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">It's all about choices, isn't it?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So here we were, stealing a few days in southern California, doing what we have become accustomed to…exploring different experiences, life, family, spiritual things, and gratitude for the life God has given us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gratitude…that’s it. It comes from medieval Latin, meaning <i>pleasing</i> or <i>thankful</i>. We might describe gratitude as 'deep,' 'profound,’ or ‘heartfelt.’ Yeah, that’s the kind of gratitude Scott and I feel when we are together – heartfelt gratitude.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many years ago, we found we shared some common professional mentors. Three men who had impacted the lives of millions of people took us into their confidence to teach and guide us. In the early days, we often asked each other how we could be so fortunate. The question that emerged then and continues to this day: with lives so deeply blessed – what is our obligation…our responsibility? What do we do with what we have been given?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A good example is the parable of the talents in the scripture </span>(Matt 25:14-29)<span style="font-size: medium;">.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A man leaving on a journey gave three servants some talents </span>(1 talent = approximately 75 lbs/34 kilos of gold)<span style="font-size: medium;">. To one five. To another two, and to the third one. When he returned, he found the servants to whom he gave five and two talents doubled the investment. The third to whom he gave one buried and returned the same amount he had been given. The first two received further rewards for their faithfulness and diligence. The one who had done nothing got nothing and was cast away.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The lesson...</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our capacity increases when we work and grow what we have been given. The more we do, the more we can do. Like the parable, life doesn't compensate for good ideas, visions, or dreams. Instead, it returns and builds on the things that we do. That is the message of the parable. That is the message for life.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Scott and his wife Genny have created a foundation called ‘Live4Legacy.’ That’s the way he gives back. Reaching out to those less fortunate with a hand up…it’s always a hand up, isn't it?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My way of giving back? The classroom. I teach life lessons under the pretext of an academic course. However, the principles are the same…a hand up...showing young people how to prepare for the course material...more importantly, life. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Better to teach how to fish than serve a meal.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sunday morning arrived with the flight home. It had been, as it had always been, timeless, sharing back and forth in a dialogue of life. We are different, Scott and I, but we consider that a strength in our relationship and the worlds (minds) in which we live. As Jonathan Sacks said: “…If we were completely alike, we would have nothing to say.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Scott and I have a lot to say…</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-60920012598828759172022-08-07T16:40:00.006-07:002022-08-07T20:12:07.608-07:00And then there were four...<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>“Quality, not quantity, is my measure.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- D.W. Jarrod, 19th century writer</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Monday afternoon, we strike the set, as the cycle of teaching anatomy and physiology (A&P), to which I have become accustomed, ends once again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's one of those deals where there is a process like in theatre. The audition, the rehearsals, the performance, the striking of the set, and in the end, exiting stage right. In this case, it's submitting a syllabus for review, assembling the material (quizzes, tests, and labs), rehearsing the flow, and stepping into the room or virtual room for the performance to begin. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The typical semester run for this course is sixteen weeks. That's a convenient because there are sixteen chapters of material for students to review and absorb. Nonetheless, it comes with considerable speed, as these chapters cover nearly six hundred pages of content-dense material in the text. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the summer, courses don't generally follow the sixteen-week path but rather five or eight weeks.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A year earlier…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last summer, I taught this course's pre-nursing level. It included four lectures (4hr 25min) four days a week. It was a mind-numbing experience for all involved – teacher and student. Twelve of the twenty-five who started dropped the course in the second week. They had the impression it would be easier and less content rich in the summer than in the sixteen-week semester. They were wrong!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The students that stayed quickly understood success would come from eating, drinking, sleeping, peeing, and pooping anatomy and physiology. Daily labs, daily quizzes, and exams every week. It was a load! The ‘galloping horses' that did remain performed remarkably well. I was amazed at what students could do when they understood what was required, put their heads down, and got it done. I was equally impressed their teacher survived the punishing ordeal.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">‘Survived’ was the operative word. I vowed I would never teach that course again!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">This summer…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, I was offered a five-week summer course, but this time it was entry-level needed by students interested in ancillary health care (e.g., x-ray tech, pulmonary tech, social work, etc.) or public safety work (e.g., police, firemen, border patrol, etc.). The five-week course required a minimum of six students for it to run, with a single two-hour thirty-minute lecture per week.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Two weeks before the start date, there were six. The week before, there were five.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I pray, I ask God to stop me if I lean in on something He doesn't want me to do. I had agreed to teach the course, but it looked like it would not have enough students to go. I was already planning what I was going to do with the time.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I dropped a note to the Dean just to confirm my July and early August would be free. Much to my chagrin, Friday ahead of the Monday start, she indicated she was willing to run the course with five…WHAT!!??</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The day cometh…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Hey,” I suggested to the Creator of the Universe, “I thought we had a deal. I was moving forward, but there weren't enough students…how come, this?"</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Resigned to my fate and a little bit grumpy, I headed to class on Monday afternoon to meet the five students who had enrolled. I might not have been hap, hap, happy about this, but I wasn’t going to let them know.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Let's get on with this...</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are three things I do at the beginning of each new class.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First, I ask my students, "Who is better than you?" They always hesitate like, for some reason, it's a trick question. I give them about fifteen seconds and say, "You waited too long! NOBODY is better than you." I remind them they are not better than others, but belief in themselves is an essential ingredient for success in life. It's surprising how few positive messages my students have gotten in their lives.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every day, a slide goes up with a header asking the question: Who's Better than You? Additionally, on that slide, each day is a different quote. For example: "Don't believe everything you think…." "Beware of simple solutions…." "You should have strong opinions, loosely held…." "Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better…."</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Second, they are asked to share a little something about themselves - which in this case, didn't take long. Did I mention there were only five students?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Third, I learn their names on the first day and always greet them by name when they arrive. Names are meaningful icons. Mentioning them provides an unconscious level of respect and familiarity – in this case, not too hard with five students...yeah, I think I mentioned that.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another thing I like to do is play fifteen minutes of music before class starts. Once they know this will happen, I ask them to recommend what they would like to hear. Over the past few years, I have been introduced to interesting music selections and artists from various cultures and countries. Thanks to these students, my playlist has been expanded considerably.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Another one bites the dust…</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Two weeks in, one of the five dropped the course, and now I was left with the smallest group of students I have had. Okay, I grumbled a little more. But then something began to happen. It wasn't purposeful because I still harbored the loss of five weeks of freedom.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But in an homage to the Three Stooges, “Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch…” I found I was looking forward to seeing these young people. The formal slide, discussion, and slide format turned into systems discussions. I wasn't instructing them; they were letting me teach. They cared about the material and engaged in dialogue.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The course I didn't want to teach…the class I was confident God had canceled because of too few students, turned out to be one of the best teaching experiences I have had. I had pulled a cognitive trigger, thinking not teaching was what God wanted...you know, because it was what I wanted.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This week, I will spend the last couple of hours with these young folk for whom I have developed affection, as I always do. We'll review for an hour in the classroom and strike the set in a local pizza parlor. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I hope they will think they got something from me, and I suppose they have. But what they don't know, nor will they fully appreciate, the gift they have given me.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Four indeed!! Note to self, "Don't believe everything you think." </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted<br /></span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-68018674742449606642022-07-31T05:38:00.002-07:002022-07-31T05:38:36.547-07:00Compliments Count - February 10, 2013<div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Sometimes you need lines,</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">sometimes you need to let it flow.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">– Lindstrøm, U.B., <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Lessons from Taxi Cabs</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The teacher from a small school had won an award and had been asked to give an acceptance speech. When he got to the part where he thanked the people most meaningful in his life – he thanked the mailman behind the counter at the Penn State University Post Office…a fellow, by the way he had not really known that well.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to the news report, “Mike the Mailman” (Mike Herr) has worked that mailroom since 1978. Students and others stand in long lines for him for two reasons:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. To post a letter/package or buy stamps, and</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. To engage his enthusiasm and positive attitude</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The young teacher said, the small moments he engaged this man at the post office had been inspirational to him and had shaped his life. It was Mike’s attitude that was a role model and inspired him.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The news report went on to say, some people come to buy stamps when they don’t need them, simply because Mike brightens their day – everyone gets an uplifting or joyful comment.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Great looking shoes.” <br />“Did you paint those nails yourself? Nice job!”<br />“The wrapping on that package is excellent!”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When asked why, for more than three decades, people have been drawn to the Post Office and stand in sometimes long lines just to interact with him, Mike says he doesn’t really know…he is just being himself. This is part of the magic…or rather the meaningful rhythm of the universe…finding and being oneself.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a society filled with consumption and status, this fellow with little more than a smile and consistent appreciation for those in front of him…makes a difference. There seems little doubt he does so for others, but he also makes a difference for himself.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Not just Mike…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This brings us to my friend Uffe and taxi drivers. He and I have had conversations about how the small, unanticipated kindnesses make differences in people’s lives. We have recounted to each other what they have meant to us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few years ago, he began chatting with taxi drivers in Copenhagen where he works. He asks them how it’s going…how long they have been driving…has it been a long day, and other things if he has a little more time. He has heard many interesting stories, but what is even better is the way he feels after interacting with these folk. Like Mike the Mailman, Uffe knows an important life secret. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It has two parts.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The first …</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We often sacrifice much in the way of our time to make ourselves appear more attractive to others through education, appearance, economic status, political loyalty, and more. A lot of time and energy is spent on this. It is amazing, however, what a small, unexpected word of kindness and edification toward another human being can do for their spirit…their moment of fatigue…their unspoken need to be appreciated. This part of the secret must happen first – taking a moment to edify another human being…a ‘random act of kindness’ if you will.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Next!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The second…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The deal is this – and this is important. We get a greater reward in the giving – in the language of business…a multiple! Invest a dollar and get a percentage gain in the deal. It makes sense, but there is an important criterion to make it actually work. Unlike business, when we give in this context, it must be freely given from the heart, without an expectation of reward – a paradox, because the reward comes only when we are not seeking it.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Everything we do has at some level, ‘self’ interest involvement/motivation. If it is one-sided, it is ‘selfish,’ where our interest is personal gain or attention. One reason we often feel empty is that we expect a reward, not for excellence, but simply for doing - a ‘we deserve’ mindset. In reality, we deserve nothing…nothing but the opportunity to act. We receive according to what we give. While it is true rewards and attention come from doing things purposefully to be seen or for attention, no prize will satisfy – the more we get, the more we want because that kind of reward does not fill the void, no matter how successful. Some argue this is just the way the world works. Uffe and I might disagree.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We understand there is a different kind of self-gain. The kind that comes when giving simply because it feels right – not selfish, but selfless. It is here, and only here where the secret can be fully realized.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My friend Uffe has learned from experience, the real return in life comes only when they first give of their spirit to another living creature. Receiving on its own is not unpleasant, but it is not fully rewarding, for it is an event, and in some ways not satisfying. Giving of oneself to another creates a dialogue of the human spirit…it becomes the great equalizer where what we do, where we’re from, the culture or gender we represent, all drift away as we find our common humanity.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Giving without expectation is the first step in the feedback loop of receiving…a conversation rather than a monologue…finding, even creating moments of common ground, is one of the deep and richest secrets of life.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mike the mailman was asked ‘why’ he did this. He said he didn’t know; it was just the way he was. That was the wrong question. Ask my friend Uffe ‘why,’ and he might say a similar thing. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The real question? “Mike/Uffe, how does it make you feel when you do this?” While the answer can only be surmised for Mike, Uffe would say, “I feel energized…connected…alive…a part of life…better.” </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the shoulder…</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am entering the final quarter of my life, and I suppose it is natural to ask questions that are more philosophic or spiritual in nature. A large part of the journey now completed, there is a lifetime over which to reflect…mistakes made…lessons learned.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is much for which I am grateful…many places I have seen that have caused wonder in my heart and elevated my soul…experiences never anticipated nor expected. And yet, the thing that continues to gratify me the most are the small, unseen human interactions where the cables of life connect to another human being in short, intimate moments of edification.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you take a few moments to reflect, I am confident you will have little trouble distinguishing between rewards sought for self, and rewards received from the human connection. Those brief moments when the invisible satellite channels of open communication link us with others is where life really happens. Dropping small pebbles of humanity into other’s lives create ripples that go, who knows where. If they go no further than the two beating hearts connected in the moment – for me, it is enough.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand, those small ‘pebbles of life’ dropped into the mind of another might change everything about them…and us.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-20895701816753605912022-07-23T07:59:00.021-07:002022-07-24T06:01:42.742-07:00Doing what they do - a cautionary tale<p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “And the serpent said unto the woman,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ye shall not surely die;”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Genesis 3:4 (Bible KJV)</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This time of year, six a.m., is just before the sun pokes its head over the western slope of the Catalina Mountains. Getting out in the five a.m. colorless greys of the early morning permits one of the great wonders of life…the rising sun! On cloudless days, slowly emerging robin egg blue skies light the day. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">During the monsoon season, clouds coat the morning sky with mysterious shapes that are practically invisible. Almost imperceptibly, the underside of their pillowy softness reflects the sun's grand entrance preceded by brilliant colors that defy description. Despite the earth rolling toward the east at mind-bending speed, the appearance and shifting brilliant colors appear to slowly slip away into the full morning light. As the sixties poet Rod McKuen wistfully wrote: "Clouds are not the cheeks of angels you know, they are only clouds." Maybe so, but in my imagination, "…cheeks of angels…" understate the magnificence of the coming day!</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I take the 5am to 6am time to read, sitting in the back yard…waiting for the show. It is life-affirming to be present in the early morning when the world begins yet once again.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEAjDisL4ksGhRx_5nRj68zyOAuGGKVXe0IToqtB9NMkRwOJGj_kp5MP4MjiDWbmIWPeWUAq4ba8VSk8DYvVWNOo0_5Y2uQ_C2dEib8uNduXCdZ0CxDLTUTkoXcyNvM-bAyKAqUTplx8b_vne-FjzVeKtgcNVbXX4J6coh8YTOCCWHkAhaLD3_BGl/s900/back%20yard.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEAjDisL4ksGhRx_5nRj68zyOAuGGKVXe0IToqtB9NMkRwOJGj_kp5MP4MjiDWbmIWPeWUAq4ba8VSk8DYvVWNOo0_5Y2uQ_C2dEib8uNduXCdZ0CxDLTUTkoXcyNvM-bAyKAqUTplx8b_vne-FjzVeKtgcNVbXX4J6coh8YTOCCWHkAhaLD3_BGl/w339-h254/back%20yard.jpg" width="339" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our little back yard, and smaller front yard, are desert landscapes. Some Barrel Cacti, Chuparosa, a Desert Spoon, a couple of Desert Willows, a Mexican Primrose, and a Texas Ranger (just outside the camera range).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="432" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oCaCoWG_aGvlNMneXlxmzTTklv9HgUGaaycDOXo-7mMyz3wCqfTi3BlRchRp9dgxbU6LN1M16fguL60Hk15GqdeK0lX0MrPt08a2cjTVMuwZPVidWSWWsu9z13vS6-Ek989AtmbcgQkwvame_2s9f47y3XzMUUgXl95AtZ6T3z5nrq1NNnNx0eNs/w95-h115/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-22%20at%204.07.22%20PM.png" width="95" /></span>Despite our desert and heat-resistant plant life, we try to provide small amounts of water. Once a week or so, in the cooler early morning hours, we fill unglazed terra cotta pots called Ollas (Oi-yas) buried in the ground. The terra cotta ‘weeps water’ into the soil at a steady rate providing moisture. Native Americans used them to irrigate crops to minimize water waste. It is an efficient way to ensure the yard remains healthy during the hot summers. There are five Ollas in the backyard and one in the front.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oCaCoWG_aGvlNMneXlxmzTTklv9HgUGaaycDOXo-7mMyz3wCqfTi3BlRchRp9dgxbU6LN1M16fguL60Hk15GqdeK0lX0MrPt08a2cjTVMuwZPVidWSWWsu9z13vS6-Ek989AtmbcgQkwvame_2s9f47y3XzMUUgXl95AtZ6T3z5nrq1NNnNx0eNs/s523/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-22%20at%204.07.22%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjg7KUL_zyg8B-o5g2WLOUEK0UsNy9S_UF2i4n_RiswYMkPQLpJZsBj5hCgMl_jpdUIQiuvKKNtGzowxnz3DwLAQg0O0JxqFyKBSARJYteDXf_pYmqjr1Zjr603lGwfl__nt2UCBxogRpClTenKor3c7ed-GjG2buZUdDajC8X9oUsfJbmw0DOjgq/s799/Front%201.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="600" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjg7KUL_zyg8B-o5g2WLOUEK0UsNy9S_UF2i4n_RiswYMkPQLpJZsBj5hCgMl_jpdUIQiuvKKNtGzowxnz3DwLAQg0O0JxqFyKBSARJYteDXf_pYmqjr1Zjr603lGwfl__nt2UCBxogRpClTenKor3c7ed-GjG2buZUdDajC8X9oUsfJbmw0DOjgq/w206-h275/Front%201.jpg" width="206" /></span></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">A few weeks ago, after finishing the back yard, I headed to the front. In that small space reside couple of young armless Saguaros. They have not yet grown arms with 'hands in the air' for which the Sonoran Desert is known. There are also some Mexican Fence Posts and an Orange Bell.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It was still a bit dusky as I began filling the Olla from a hose attached to the side of the house. It was about half-full when I glanced under the Orange Bell. I'm not sure why I did, but when I did, I saw a rattle snake curled up and looking straight at me. At first, I thought it might be sleeping in the cooler morning air, but in my 'instant frozen about to freak-out state,' I noticed its tongue probing the air in my direction.<br /></span><div><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI42AxEW-tzF1dXmsxJZooZkBuRxV_dilIO281mYI91Kc58N_a6QJRba1oZFdD9IO87BjZdNwEWrLZiEsql5_d9p_OwkLOtYjnAGfIEeXV82H9EDaLZ4iEqcat3ZorOfQx9-qJ2VxyMa_MWDQ5JaVpZTFr-KnQvDqXe38-KYYbaT7IwYxgXlZC3QfV/s816/Front%202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI42AxEW-tzF1dXmsxJZooZkBuRxV_dilIO281mYI91Kc58N_a6QJRba1oZFdD9IO87BjZdNwEWrLZiEsql5_d9p_OwkLOtYjnAGfIEeXV82H9EDaLZ4iEqcat3ZorOfQx9-qJ2VxyMa_MWDQ5JaVpZTFr-KnQvDqXe38-KYYbaT7IwYxgXlZC3QfV/w147-h200/Front%202.jpg" width="147" /></span></span><br /></a></div><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We've lived in the desert for nine years. Besides an occasional snake on the bike paths or in cages, I have never been close to a rattler.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We've also taken classes on what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert. The best thing, of course, is to make sure to stay at a distance, learning they can only strike half the length of their bodies. Frighteningly, I was well within range.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It was one of those instant heart-pounding, nasal passage-clearing, mortal fear moments. All I wanted to do, as flight or fight hormones surged through me, was to jump up and run away. But I knew that thing could strike a lot faster than my seventy-five-year-old body could get up and go. It was all I could to put the hose gently down, slowly stand, and back away, praying it wouldn’t strike. I did – it didn’t!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In an Aesop fable, a farmer saves a frozen snake only to be bitten by it. When the farmer asked why, the snake replied, "...because it's what I do..."</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The fire department here offers snake relocation services. When called, they come, capture and release them to the desert. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I was grateful the call was to them, not emergency services, for a ride to the hospital.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The next morning, in the grey morning light, I was a little more grateful to see the sun come once again...</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">- ted</span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></p></div></div></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-90263716120835183022021-10-17T07:24:00.006-07:002021-10-17T14:14:28.777-07:00If you love 'em...<p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“We can live without religion and meditation, but<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">we cannot survive without human affection.”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Dali Lama</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Early mornings are a good time to read. It gets the day going and beats the morning news. Adam Grant's <span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Think Again</span> stimulated an email to an old friend.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My note closed with this, “I have loved and appreciated you for many years and for many reasons, but during this morning’s read…even more!”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">His unexpected response:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Your email to me was something very special. Most guys, especially guys that have been to war like us, are too macho to be sensitive, to show affection to other men. But you plowed right through that unwritten law and it really touched me….”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Let’s back this up…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let’s talk a little about love – the context here.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We often get caught up in vocabulary because it’s all we know to express feelings to one another. When I was younger, vocabulary words were the alphabet – the precursor for finding meaningful ways to communicate.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since I had no understanding of how to express feelings of affection outside my immediate family (a little more on that coming), words and definitions were the only way I knew.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As a young person, I understood there were different shades and textures to the meaning of love but Idea needed exploration. First stop, a dictionary, the all-knowing residence of words.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I discovered that loving my family was reflected by the Greek word ‘storge.’ That was good to know. Church people talked about a broader kind of love for mankind – <i>agape</i>. I could see that. I was getting somewhere.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There were more Greek words:</span></p><ul class="ul1"><li class="li1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><i>Phila</i> (deep friendship),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li><li class="li1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><i>Philauta</i> (self-love),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li><li class="li1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><i>Ludus</i> (playful love),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li><li class="li1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><i>Eros</i> (passionate love)</span></li></ul><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Holy cow!! I discovered the partial list above was just the beginning of my journey to understanding this thing called love. Thank goodness for those Greeks. I mean, how else would we know about love in our language!!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let’s see, my best friend in high school. Yep, that was <i>Phila</i>. My girlfriend…hmm – <i>eros</i> with a touch of <i>Ludus</i> maybe. But then I was hoping for <i>Phila</i> with her as well - sadly unrequited. Coming from a home with a deep social conscience, the emphasis was, of course, <i>agape</i>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To be fair, I never said to my best friend that our relationship was founded on </span><i style="font-family: Calibri;">Phila</i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. And it would have been embarrassing to tell my girlfriend that </span><i style="font-family: Calibri;">eros</i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was the basis of our relationship. It was hard enough to keep these words and their definitions straight. Over time they seemed to shape-shift and blend from one to the other. Yikes!</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">An informative aside…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was fortunate to have had a maternal mentor who taught me to love myself and other people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She would say, "If it's true that you should love your neighbor as yourself, then you need to love yourself." I suppose the Greeks would have called that <i>Philautia</i> (self-love). This was not self-absorptive narcissism but rather an appreciation for the gift of life. She didn't need to give me a definition. The words from her mouth to my ear were enough to seal the belief in my mind. To me, truth, plain and simple. The result? I genuinely love myself!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the years, I have asked people in workshops, “If you ask me for five dollars and I don’t have it. Can I give it to you?” Strangely, they often think it’s a trick question.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Continuing the thought, I say, “If I have three dollars, I can give you that, but I can't give what I don't have.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Loving our neighbor as ourselves implies we must love ourselves! Loving ourselves, my mother would have suggested, is the full five dollars!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Moving on…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over time, it became clear no vocabulary was good enough to express these different layers of affection. I learned love could be a smile to a stranger, a quiet conversation of support, a knowing look, a subtle touch, or an intimate sexual experience. These feelings or experiences were not exclusive, nor independent of one another. They were a continuum reflecting the resonance I felt with the people in my life. The key was learning to know what was suitable and when.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like everything, good sailors come from navigating stormy seas.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’ve made a fair number of mistakes telling folks I loved them and then unwisely trying to push the wet noodle uphill. This usually happened because I wasn’t listening or paying attention.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trust and understanding take time and sensitivity. Unfortunately, gun-jumping can create an environment that sometimes never recovers. That is disappointing.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We all receive words and feelings based on the worlds within which each of us lives. There is a difference between saying I love you and I am in love with you. I’ve frequently been apt to say the former, seldom the latter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some difficult lessons were learned when the expression of affection was not given nor taken with a shared spirit of understanding.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was often the case with the men I have known in my life. Maybe it's a reflection of the discomfort many men have ("...too macho...") expressing affection to one another. Most show their feelings through comradeship like hunting, athletic events, recalling stories of valor or embarrassment, and teasing. Good-natured bantering usually happens between close friends and is, in my experience, always a way of saying, I love you. And that is usually good enough!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Love within our species is a way of projecting safety and comfort. Each of us craves that feeling. I suppose that’s why it is so deeply embedded in our humanity and why we feel vulnerable in expressing it for fear of rejection.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Telling someone you love them, at whatever level on the scale of resonance, should not be a threat or a sign of weakness - rather, it should be a sign of strength.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The closing note to my friend came from a brain-to-fingers in a slipstream of unconsciousness. It was an expression of deep gratitude for having had him a part of my life for so many years. It was as natural as breathing.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thanks, mum!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-78385093481571771822021-09-20T12:20:00.002-07:002021-09-20T16:05:22.105-07:00Flipping out...<p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“Continuous improvement is better<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">than delayed perfection…”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">- Mark Twain</p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Life gets simple when things go haywire in your body - accidents, illness, unexpected events that take you down. When this happens, everything slips away, and the focus settles squarely on getting better.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I knew I wasn’t going to die, but it was all I could do to get home and lie down. Tucking in, I lay motionless like a stone on a riverbank – a dead weight waiting for the wind and rain to wear me away, returning me to the elements from whence I came. The nausea was so bad, death might have been welcome…miserable would be understating!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The day arrived…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Friday was busy. In the morning, I met face to face with my department chair. It was the first time in a year. It was good but merely a temporary stop on my way to the afternoon. I had been thinking about Friday afternoon since confirming the lesson and, like a kid at Christmas, I could hardly wait!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I got to the pool early, and there she was. I waved and headed her way. She said she had a baby to teach, but we could get started as soon as the short session was over.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Backing up a little…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After a COVID break, I've been in the pool for several months. It is Olympic size, fifty by twenty-five meters. On most days, the lanes cross the width of the pool to accommodate more swimmers. Because of the COVID, one-hour blocs of time had to be reserved. Armed with a center-head snorkel and goggles, the fifteen hundred meters I usually get are mindlessly relaxing. Water acts as a large body stocking and lying horizontally removes gravity's tug on blood returning to the heart. It's a win-win for all three of us – body, soul, and spirit!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the past few months, I noticed a woman giving swim lessons. She stood out because she was dressed neck to wrist and toe in black. I was curious because black is a substantial heat sink! In addition, she wore a wide-brimmed hat with a lot of zinc oxide protecting her face. In sum, it was hard not to notice her. Additionally, she appeared to be obliviously focused on her students.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Backing up a little more…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The pool events in this year’s Tokyo Olympic games were impressive. Maybe more so for me because I had been in the water for a while before they began. The performances were terrific to watch. But the swimmer's doing flip turns at the wall of each lap was mesmerizing – poetry in motion, a dance so smooth and pleasing, the tumble turns alone kept me glued to the screen.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A kernel of thought began to emerge in the back of my mind.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I wonder if I could learn to do that?</span></i></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Kismet!!</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Earlier in the week, after showering and getting back into my shorts and mask, I thought.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">If that woman is still here and not teaching when I leave, I will approach her.</span></i></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Leaving the locker room, there she was!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Striking up a conversation, I asked if she might be willing to teach me to do a flip turn. She said she could, but in her experience, it was difficult for older folks to learn but added, "I’m happy to give it a try."</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We set a date for the coming Friday, and I was over the moon.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Friday afternoon arrived, and there she was. I swam a few warmup laps while she was with the baby, and then the lesson began.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Let me demonstrate,” she said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“The key is tucking your head, bringing your knees in, and driving with your arms forward to aid the rotation. Be sure to blow air out of your nose while turning so you don’t fill your sinuses with water.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Great! Here we go!</span></i></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I tucked my head, pulled my knees to my chest, blew air out of my nose, AND lo and behold!! I bobbed up and down like an apple in a tub of water - hmmm, that didn't work.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Let’s try this, she said. “Push off the side of the pool, and then try it.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Following her instruction, I got a partial flip.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Not bad, for the first time, she said. “Let's try again."</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By the end of the ten or so trials, I could execute what passed as a flip. It was kind of thrilling.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Nice work,” she said.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was step one. Approaching the wall, flipping, and pushing away was down the road, but this was a start!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thanked her as we got out of the pool and noticed my stomach was a little unsettled. It was just a touch, but when I stood up, I began to feel increasingly nauseated. This wasn't good.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Getting to the locker room was challenging because it was getting worse. By the time I got to the car, I was uncertain whether I could get home. The ten-minute drive seemed like it took forever, and the nausea was not getting better but worse. Molly met me in the garage and helped me to the bedroom. By this time, the best I could do was get horizontal in the darkened room. Unlike the water, lying flat in bed was NOT edifying for my body, soul, or spirit!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fortunately, I was able to sleep, and within a couple of hours, began to feel a little better trying to process what had happened. It was then I realized it was the balance center of my inner ear. The flipping in the water had been disorienting, and small fluid-filled canals in my ear didn't like it one bit. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to have done a little work to prepare them for the challenge. So, they reminded me that balance and spatial orientation were their business, not mine. They made me pay and it wasn't pretty!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By Sunday, I felt normal enough to ride my bike with no balance problems. I decided that If I can't do this, I won't. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> But a single trial was not enough to dampen my enthusiasm. </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nelson Mandela once said, “Everything is impossible until you do it.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’ll see Mr. Mandela…we’ll see…</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-12280207062082015592021-09-12T08:15:00.002-07:002021-09-12T08:24:44.158-07:00It was always about love...<p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;">a man (woman), I put away childish things…”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">1Co 13:11</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looking across the table over lunch, it was as if only a day had passed since being together. But, in fact, it had been years! She was in town for a few hours on her way to somewhere else.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s the thing about friendship, isn’t it? A timeless space where the only thing that matters is being together. I think one of the most basic human desires is to be in ‘no time’…‘a zone’ where nothing is measured…it just is.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To be fair, we had Skyped sporadically…but in person? It had been nearly two decades. There is something about face-to-face that is powerful. The world slips away, and it takes on a life of its own for however long it lasts. This was it, and there we were! You know what I’m talking about.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There was another time we sat together. We were not alone then. A group of five or six youngsters was sitting on the floor in a semi-circle. The lesson was just finishing when a little hand shot up.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Yes, Ashley. A question?”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a small and halting voice, she said, “Uh, well, uh, I mean, uh, I thought we were going to talk about sex!”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I could barely contain a chuckle. When I recounted the story to her over lunch, we both laughed out loud!</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This forty-one-year-old woman was six or seven at the time and in a very different space.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Then…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was part of a spiritual community for three decades. It was a group of Bible teachers and students. It was not a fellowship of legalists accepting every word as literal truth, but rather one that believed the scripture was a guide for spiritual growth and enlightenment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Growing up in a family as a preacher’s son, I can't remember when I did not have an interest in the scriptures. My father read them around the table. My mother added substance and love telling Old and New Testament stories.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I left my family’s harbor of spiritual safety, I found that religions were not the same as my experience. In broad brush strokes, the churches I attended fell into two categories…social gatherings, with a little scripture tossed in or lots of scripture that subtly increased guilt and shame in parishioners.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The former, while enjoyable, did not feed my spiritual hunger; the latter, steeped in carrot-stick teachings (be good or be punished), offended my sensibilities. It was refreshing to find a group that was serious about scripture study for the sake of understanding rather than control. A people who understood spiritual growth takes time and can’t be legislated.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">What about sex?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought it might be a good idea to teach a sex education class to the church in those early years. Having done some health counseling within the congregation it became apparent that while spiritual understanding was substantial, the women and men knew little about their physical bodies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The elders agreed but didn’t want it to be an event that reinforced religious myths and taboos. If we were going to do this, it was to be open and honest. The good news was that we had some nurses and health educators within the organization.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Off to the races…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A small group of us prepared the curriculum, and a teaching day was set aside.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The adults were put in mixed-gender sessions with films, handouts, and hands-on anatomical models. For most, it was the first time they had ever heard open discussions about their bodies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The children got half a day. There were cartoon books with basic age-appropriate information. One of the models was a pregnant belly that could be opened to see the baby in the womb. The 'baby' could be taken out for the children to pass around and handle. They were fascinated and had lots of questions. <u>How</u> did the baby g<span class="s2">et out? <u>What</u></span> was it doing in there? Surprisingly they didn't have much interest in <span class="s2">how</span> it got there in the first place.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many questions were answered that day, and myths dispelled. You could feel a sense of freedom and relief amongst the adults. It was a rousing success!</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there was Ashley. When I asked her what she meant, she wasn't clear but was sure we had never talked about sex.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">This is now…</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sitting across the table from this vibrant young woman could not have been better. For a while, I had been her teacher but always been her friend.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We caught up on each other’s lives, sharing stories about families and friends. We laughed a lot and had some moments of quietness. And then, in a blink of an eye, she was gone.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I revisit that little girl sitting in a semi-circle with her hand in the air from time to time. That day I didn't exactly know how to respond to her comment or address her underlying question. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I do now!</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ash, wherever you are…you were right. That education day at the church was never really about sex. It was always about love…</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span></p><div><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"></p></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-24125971508540437802021-08-29T19:51:00.002-07:002021-08-29T19:52:53.450-07:00Coveting the embers...<div><div data-draftjs-conductor-fragment="{"blocks":[{"key":"8nk7m","text":"“A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he does","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"akqsj","text":" in the world to his fellow man. When he dies, ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"b0301","text":"people will say, ‘What property has he left ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"41chg","text":"behind him?’ The angels will ask, ‘What ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"cmm12","text":"good deeds has he sent before him?’”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"d2pim","text":"- Mohammed","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"bpg13","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"cvgot","text":"When we were kids, we spent part of our summers in Canada. My father took the month of August away from the church to the woods of Central Ontario and the crystal-clear waters of Lake Joseph. These were memorable family times. There were no phones, no television; we just had each other.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"60tge","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"e1ctq","text":"The family property sat along the southern shores of Whalon Bay. Along that shore was a broad and bare granite rock that gently sloped to the water. It was a perfect place nestled in the woods to safely build a fire near the water’s edge.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"cv3ac","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"90a15","text":"We weren’t the only ones on the family property during those times. There were cousins with their own places on the sides of the bay and folks that often dropped in. When a campfire was announced, there was plenty of family and friends who showed up to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows on small tree branches. While the fire warmed everyone, it was only the vehicle to bring us together. Sharing lives with one another was what really mattered. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"9dcrr","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5di1a","text":"In those days, I learned that the combination of graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, and crispy marshmallows made the addictive treat called s’mores. The name suggested it all. One couldn’t (or didn’t want to) eat just one but wanted some more!","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"e6rbo","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"9278q","text":"Eventually, on those chilly Ontario nights with clear starlit skies, the fire would begin to burn down, leaving embers that were pleasing to the eye but not quite enough to stave off the night chill. Folks would drift away one or two at a time to places of rest, satisfied for having had an evening well spent. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ba9t7","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"365o8","text":"On the occasions I was last to leave, I watched those embers until they were nearly gone, pulling my jacket a little closer against the nippy night air. Finally, water bucket in hand, I doused the soft glow, leaving blackened ashes, the residue of a once brightly lit fire.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"784lr","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"in9p","text":"While these events are distant in my past, I've been thinking about those campfires...metaphors for the brightly burning glow of life warming me all these years. I've thought of so many people with whom I spent time sharing experiences, hopes, and dreams – remembrances that bring warmth to the chill of the approaching night air.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"12n2d","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ao3tv","text":"Some of those souls have drifted away; others are preparing to retire to their places of rest. And yet, the embers still burn, maybe not so brightly but nonetheless meaningful. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5l8vn","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"a99l8","text":"I am reminded of the quote by Lénonor d’Allainval...my life has been (and continues to be) “L’Embarras des richesses” (an embarrassment of riches).","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2r515","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"6u7tn","text":"Time is undoubtedly moving on. Nonetheless, I'm counting on the embers of my life to continue for some time to come. But I do find I’m pulling my jacket a little closer against the impending night air. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}}],"entityMap":{},"VERSION":"8.49.2"}" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="foo-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="foo-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="foo-0-0">“A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he does</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="48hm7-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="48hm7-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="48hm7-0-0"> in the world to his fellow man. When he dies, </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="c55c8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="c55c8-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="c55c8-0-0">people will say, ‘What property has he left </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="aktsk-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="aktsk-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="aktsk-0-0">behind him?’ The angels will ask, ‘What </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="bium7-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="bium7-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="bium7-0-0">good deeds has he sent before him?’”</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="euod1-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="euod1-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="euod1-0-0">- Mohammed</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="lkhm-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="lkhm-0-0"><span data-offset-key="lkhm-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="3rbo5-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="3rbo5-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3rbo5-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">When we were kids, we spent part of our summers in Canada. My father took the month of August away from the church to the woods of Central Ontario and the crystal-clear waters of Lake Joseph. These were memorable family times. There were no phones, no television; we just had each other.</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="cbmft-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="cbmft-0-0"><span data-offset-key="cbmft-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5l4sp-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5l4sp-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5l4sp-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">The family property sat along the southern shores of Whalon Bay. Along that shore was a broad and bare granite rock that gently sloped to the water. It was a perfect place nestled in the woods to safely build a fire near the water’s edge.</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ce6ck-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ce6ck-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ce6ck-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="3n74j-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="3n74j-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3n74j-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">We weren’t the only ones on the family property during those times. There were cousins with their own places on the sides of the bay and folks that often dropped in. When a campfire was announced, there was plenty of family and friends who showed up to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows on small tree branches. While the fire warmed everyone, it was only the vehicle to bring us together. Sharing lives with one another was what really mattered. </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="fq4h8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="fq4h8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="fq4h8-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="4etuh-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4etuh-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4etuh-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">In those days, I learned that the combination of graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, and crispy marshmallows made the addictive treat called s’mores. The name suggested it all. One couldn’t (or didn’t want to) eat just one but wanted some more!</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="84ike-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="84ike-0-0"><span data-offset-key="84ike-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="c6gns-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="c6gns-0-0"><span data-offset-key="c6gns-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">Eventually, on those chilly Ontario nights with clear starlit skies, the fire would begin to burn down, leaving embers that were pleasing to the eye but not quite enough to stave off the night chill. Folks would drift away one or two at a time to places of rest, satisfied for having had an evening well spent. </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="2f0qk-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="2f0qk-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2f0qk-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5qst-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5qst-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5qst-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">On the occasions I was last to leave, I watched those embers until they were nearly gone, pulling my jacket a little closer against the nippy night air. Finally, water bucket in hand, I doused the soft glow, leaving blackened ashes, the residue of a once brightly lit fire.</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="22bu4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="22bu4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="22bu4-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="csqb3-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="csqb3-0-0"><span data-offset-key="csqb3-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">While these events are distant in my past, I've been thinking about those campfires...metaphors for the brightly burning glow of life warming me all these years. I've thought of so many people with whom I spent time sharing experiences, hopes, and dreams – remembrances that bring warmth to the chill of the approaching night air.</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="b7m0o-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="b7m0o-0-0"><span data-offset-key="b7m0o-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="7p800-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="7p800-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7p800-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">Some of those souls have drifted away; others are preparing to retire to their places of rest. And yet, the embers still burn, maybe not so brightly but nonetheless meaningful. </span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="faifk-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="faifk-0-0"><span data-offset-key="faifk-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="1805f-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="1805f-0-0"><span data-offset-key="1805f-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">I am reminded of the quote by Lénonor d’Allainval...my life has been (and continues to be) “L’Embarras des richesses” (an embarrassment of riches).</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5ageh-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5ageh-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5ageh-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="64kfo-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="64kfo-0-0"><span data-offset-key="64kfo-0-0" style="font-size: medium;">Time is undoubtedly moving on. Nonetheless, I'm counting on the embers of my life to continue for some time to come. But I do find I’m pulling my jacket a little closer against the impending night air. </span></div><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="64kfo-0-0"><span data-offset-key="64kfo-0-0" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><span style="font-size: medium;">- ted</span>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-63104021676536247432021-08-29T19:48:00.007-07:002021-08-29T19:49:40.297-07:00Stopping on a dime...<div data-draftjs-conductor-fragment="{"blocks":[{"key":"dbjtb","text":"“Experiences never end. They’re just semi-colons","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"76l54","text":"where the story takes a break…”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"c6pbk","text":" - Anonymous","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"2uj5t","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"7acuf","text":"The request came unexpectedly. The spring semester was barely over, and I was thinking about what I might do during the summer. I listened politely but wasn’t sure I wanted to take it on.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"shj8","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2o3uo","text":"The topic at hand was a five-week accelerated Anatomy and Physiology course that would cover sixteen-weeks of material. It would be taught virtually and was the healthcare track, prepping students for nursing or other health related careers. It is one of the toughest courses we teach.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"96pd5","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"g587","text":"“It’s only five weeks,” said my department chair. “I thought it might be a good fit and it’s not like the material is brand new.”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1f7v4","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"62ufc","text":"Yes, but it would be five weeks of irregular sleep and interfere with my social life. Wait, I don’t have a social life!","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":119,"style":"ITALIC"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2dj04","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"81u0r","text":"On the other hand, I have more frequently said yes to the partially or completely unknown, often providing me with meaningful life experiences. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5l91d","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"emn5s","text":"Quick aside…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":12,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"m94f","text":"When the college went virtual in the middle of the semester in 2020, it wasn’t a model I was keen about. A people person, I love the classroom and the interaction with students. Virtual? I wasn’t so sure. As it turns out, however, by the second semester from my computer to theirs, I found it quite enjoyable.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2mftp","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"rg4k","text":"Back to the five-weeker…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":24,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2kq8","text":"Trying to understand what this class entailed, I contacted several colleagues. I was looking for some insight and to see if any of them had a syllabus I could review. I was surprised by the feedback:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2pah0","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"37ae8","text":"“No, I haven’t taught this course and never would!” and “The college shouldn’t offer this class in that time frame!” and“You couldn’t pay me to teach that material in five-weeks!”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":52,"length":3,"style":"UNDERLINE"},{"offset":117,"length":3,"style":"UNDERLINE"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"33kpe","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"fmqh9","text":"One brief ray of hope was a senior faculty member who said the five-week summer class was one of his favorites. He did have a course outline somewhere but was leaving on holiday the following day – sorry.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"id4j","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"914fo","text":"While it was true, I had taught this course several times but never in this timeframe. It was a dilemma.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"247tv","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"3gldl","text":"I called a retired colleague who had mentored me through the first semester I returned to the classroom. She invited me to her home, listened to my pros, cons and angst. Her input like the others, was that she would not teach this course. BUT she did have a lot of material, along with some video lectures that she would give me. The decision was up to me.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"419og","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"boj9l","text":"Time to choose…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":15,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1kvcv","text":"Due diligence complete. It was time for the decision. I have a time-tested two-step process for this - little prayer and consultation with the boss. Molly reminded me that when my hands are idle, I am not the happiest of campers and that I have a habit of doing whatever it takes to get projects done. With some positive meditation and an attaboy from my girlfriend, I agreed to teach the class.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"d8ebk","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"dmbv4","text":"Now the work…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":13,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"4jaai","text":"To put this in perspective, teaching a full semester’s material in five weeks means the following:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"67ne5","text":"Four hours and twenty minutes of contact time, four days a week (Mon-Thurs). ","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"g3am","text":"New physiology systems taught almost every class rather than one per week (e.g., endocrine, heart, digestion, etc.).","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"abovh","text":"Frequent, manually graded homework assignments.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ickd","text":"Labs and quizzes due daily rather than weekly. ","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"h4rv","text":"Weekly rather than monthly unit exams.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"3pck0","text":"Fridays through Sundays spent constructing exams and grading homework/labs.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ab44p","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8i95g","text":"An upside, the class was virtual. Meaning the commute was from the kitchen to the office in the next room. In addition, the quizzes and exams were automated, meaning, once constructed, they were administrated and graded via a computerized learning system. An elegant online lab program provided students the ability to image anatomy in three dimensions. Thus, students could zoom in and out, rotate 360 degrees, and dissect whatever anatomical structure we were studying (e.g., heart, kidney, lungs, etc.).","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1745e","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8s1vi","text":"Then there were the students themselves. The course began with twenty-four of them. My introductory comments came with the admonition that this material was going to be very challenging. For the next five weeks they would need to eat, drink, and sleep anatomy and physiology. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1419j","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"vn5","text":"I think it is human nature for people to overestimate their capacity to get things done. Some of the students thought the course would be easier because of the short time frame. Others were pretty sure they wouldn't really need to put as much effort into the material as I suggested. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5pice","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"acofl","text":"By the beginning of week two, six students had dropped the course, and by late in the third week, another five slipped into the ether. I was left with twelve disciples, all of whom finished the course exhausted, but relieved that they (and their instructor) had survived the gauntlet.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"chues","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"s7pk","text":"It’s always the end of a thing, isn’t it? From the class introduction it was game on. Five weeks later to the day, it was full stop! To use a theatre expression, we ‘struck the set’ at the final examination and went our separate ways as though we had never met. I always feel a little melancholy when the ‘play,’ the hard work, and the intimacy of the game, ends. But that’s just the way it is every semester.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"e4m98","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"84qh2","text":"The good news is that there will be another day where I will follow the familiar two-step process: a little prayer and consultation with the boss!","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"7calu","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"abj0e","text":"ted","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}}],"entityMap":{},"VERSION":"8.49.2"}" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="foo-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="foo-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="foo-0-0">“Experiences never end. They’re just semi-colons</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="45jqp-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="45jqp-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="45jqp-0-0">where the story takes a break…”</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="405i6-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="405i6-0-0" style="text-align: right;"><span data-offset-key="405i6-0-0"> - Anonymous</span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="acp02-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="acp02-0-0"><span data-offset-key="acp02-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="6rjp0-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="6rjp0-0-0"><span data-offset-key="6rjp0-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">The request came unexpectedly. The spring semester was barely over, and I was thinking about what I might do during the summer. I listened politely but wasn’t sure I wanted to take it on.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5r2gn-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5r2gn-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5r2gn-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5094m-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5094m-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5094m-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">The topic at hand was a five-week accelerated Anatomy and Physiology course that would cover sixteen-weeks of material. It would be taught virtually and was the healthcare track, prepping students for nursing or other health related careers. It is one of the toughest courses we teach.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="4osmj-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4osmj-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4osmj-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="a4avf-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="a4avf-0-0"><span data-offset-key="a4avf-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">“It’s only five weeks,” said my department chair. “I thought it might be a good fit and it’s not like the material is brand new.”</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ft7br-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ft7br-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ft7br-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="77nk8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="77nk8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="77nk8-0-0" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, but it would be five weeks of irregular sleep and interfere with my social life. Wait, I don’t have a social life!</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5rvpm-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5rvpm-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5rvpm-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5a85c-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5a85c-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5a85c-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand, I have more frequently said yes to the partially or completely unknown, often providing me with meaningful life experiences. </span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="80rjl-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="80rjl-0-0"><span data-offset-key="80rjl-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="8pqj9-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="8pqj9-0-0"><span data-offset-key="8pqj9-0-0" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Quick aside…</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="3nhj7-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="3nhj7-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3nhj7-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">When the college went virtual in the middle of the semester in 2020, it wasn’t a model I was keen about. A people person, I love the classroom and the interaction with students. Virtual? I wasn’t so sure. As it turns out, however, by the second semester from my computer to theirs, I found it quite enjoyable.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="alfbq-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="alfbq-0-0"><span data-offset-key="alfbq-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="e3f3i-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="e3f3i-0-0"><span data-offset-key="e3f3i-0-0" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Back to the five-weeker…</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="b8d7s-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="b8d7s-0-0"><span data-offset-key="b8d7s-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trying to understand what this class entailed, I contacted several colleagues. I was looking for some insight and to see if any of them had a syllabus I could review. I was surprised by the feedback:</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="2ujge-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="2ujge-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2ujge-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-0">“No, I haven’t taught this course and never would!” </span><span data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-1" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><span data-text="true">and</span></span><span data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-2"> “The college shouldn’t offer this class in that time frame!” </span><span data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-3" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><span data-text="true">and</span></span><span data-offset-key="e9t8f-0-4">“You couldn’t pay me to teach that material in five-weeks!”</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="cu1h1-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="cu1h1-0-0"><span data-offset-key="cu1h1-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="2hmpt-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="2hmpt-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2hmpt-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">One brief ray of hope was a senior faculty member who said the five-week summer class was one of his favorites. He did have a course outline somewhere but was leaving on holiday the following day – sorry.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="c2i2d-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="c2i2d-0-0"><span data-offset-key="c2i2d-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="a37g1-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="a37g1-0-0"><span data-offset-key="a37g1-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">While it was true, I had taught this course several times but never in this timeframe. It was a dilemma.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="5cs16-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5cs16-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5cs16-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="2im08-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="2im08-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2im08-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">I called a retired colleague who had mentored me through the first semester I returned to the classroom. She invited me to her home, listened to my pros, cons and angst. Her input like the others, was that she would not teach this course. BUT she did have a lot of material, along with some video lectures that she would give me. The decision was up to me.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="6mpf4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="6mpf4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="6mpf4-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="9hph8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="9hph8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="9hph8-0-0" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Time to choose…</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="4abr4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4abr4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4abr4-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Due diligence complete. It was time for the decision. I have a time-tested two-step process for this - little prayer and consultation with the boss. Molly reminded me that when my hands are idle, I am not the happiest of campers and that I have a habit of doing whatever it takes to get projects done. With some positive meditation and an attaboy from my girlfriend, I agreed to teach the class.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="8ifm4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="8ifm4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="8ifm4-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ca67h-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ca67h-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ca67h-0-0" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now the work…</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="e4khq-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="e4khq-0-0"><span data-offset-key="e4khq-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">To put this in perspective, teaching a full semester’s material in five weeks means the following:</span></span></div></div><ol class="public-DraftStyleDefault-ol" data-offset-key="3t3p6-0-0"><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-reset public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="3t3p6-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="3t3p6-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3t3p6-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Four hours and twenty minutes of contact time, four days a week (Mon-Thurs). </span></span></div></li><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="akch-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="akch-0-0"><span data-offset-key="akch-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">New physiology systems taught almost every class rather than one per week (e.g., endocrine, heart, digestion, etc.).</span></span></div></li><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="7rka8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="7rka8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7rka8-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Frequent, manually graded homework assignments.</span></span></div></li><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="d2v55-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="d2v55-0-0"><span data-offset-key="d2v55-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Labs and quizzes due daily rather than weekly. </span></span></div></li><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="cf9vh-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="cf9vh-0-0"><span data-offset-key="cf9vh-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Weekly rather than monthly unit exams.</span></span></div></li><li class="_1Kvom Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-list-ltr public-DraftStyleDefault-orderedListItem public-DraftStyleDefault-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-listLTR" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="1dkm4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="1dkm4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="1dkm4-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fridays through Sundays spent constructing exams and grading homework/labs.</span></span></div></li></ol><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="8r1g4-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="8r1g4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="8r1g4-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="679kb-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="679kb-0-0"><span data-offset-key="679kb-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">An upside, the class was virtual. Meaning the commute was from the kitchen to the office in the next room. In addition, the quizzes and exams were automated, meaning, once constructed, they were administrated and graded via a computerized learning system. An elegant online lab program provided students the ability to image anatomy in three dimensions. Thus, students could zoom in and out, rotate 360 degrees, and dissect whatever anatomical structure we were studying (e.g., heart, kidney, lungs, etc.).</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ff06g-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ff06g-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ff06g-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="buk5m-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="buk5m-0-0"><span data-offset-key="buk5m-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there were the students themselves. The course began with twenty-four of them. My introductory comments came with the admonition that this material was going to be very challenging. For the next five weeks they would need to eat, drink, and sleep anatomy and physiology. </span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="aq269-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="aq269-0-0"><span data-offset-key="aq269-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="fthbl-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="fthbl-0-0"><span data-offset-key="fthbl-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think it is human nature for people to overestimate their capacity to get things done. Some of the students thought the course would be easier because of the short time frame. Others were pretty sure they wouldn't really need to put as much effort into the material as I suggested. </span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="8k4e7-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="8k4e7-0-0"><span data-offset-key="8k4e7-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="4gdev-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4gdev-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4gdev-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">By the beginning of week two, six students had dropped the course, and by late in the third week, another five slipped into the ether. I was left with twelve disciples, all of whom finished the course exhausted, but relieved that they (and their instructor) had survived the gauntlet.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="7s3ip-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="7s3ip-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7s3ip-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="4b8e8-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4b8e8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4b8e8-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s always the end of a thing, isn’t it? From the class introduction it was game on. Five weeks later to the day, it was full stop! To use a theatre expression, we ‘struck the set’ at the final examination and went our separate ways as though we had never met. I always feel a little melancholy when the ‘play,’ the hard work, and the intimacy of the game, ends. But that’s just the way it is every semester.</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ccsfg-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ccsfg-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ccsfg-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="so9j-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="so9j-0-0"><span data-offset-key="so9j-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">The good news is that there will be another day where I will follow the familiar two-step process: a little prayer and consultation with the boss!</span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="ksda-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="ksda-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ksda-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="8vp11-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="8vp11-0-0"><span data-offset-key="8vp11-0-0"><span style="font-size: medium;">ted</span></span></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div data-draftjs-conductor-fragment="{"blocks":[{"key":"dbjtb","text":"“Experiences never end. They’re just semi-colons","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"76l54","text":"where the story takes a break…”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"c6pbk","text":" - Anonymous","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{"textAlignment":"right"}},{"key":"2uj5t","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"7acuf","text":"The request came unexpectedly. The spring semester was barely over, and I was thinking about what I might do during the summer. I listened politely but wasn’t sure I wanted to take it on.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"shj8","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2o3uo","text":"The topic at hand was a five-week accelerated Anatomy and Physiology course that would cover sixteen-weeks of material. It would be taught virtually and was the healthcare track, prepping students for nursing or other health related careers. It is one of the toughest courses we teach.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"96pd5","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"g587","text":"“It’s only five weeks,” said my department chair. “I thought it might be a good fit and it’s not like the material is brand new.”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1f7v4","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"62ufc","text":"Yes, but it would be five weeks of irregular sleep and interfere with my social life. Wait, I don’t have a social life!","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":119,"style":"ITALIC"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2dj04","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"81u0r","text":"On the other hand, I have more frequently said yes to the partially or completely unknown, often providing me with meaningful life experiences. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5l91d","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"emn5s","text":"Quick aside…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":12,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"m94f","text":"When the college went virtual in the middle of the semester in 2020, it wasn’t a model I was keen about. A people person, I love the classroom and the interaction with students. Virtual? I wasn’t so sure. As it turns out, however, by the second semester from my computer to theirs, I found it quite enjoyable.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2mftp","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"rg4k","text":"Back to the five-weeker…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":24,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2kq8","text":"Trying to understand what this class entailed, I contacted several colleagues. I was looking for some insight and to see if any of them had a syllabus I could review. I was surprised by the feedback:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2pah0","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"37ae8","text":"“No, I haven’t taught this course and never would!” and “The college shouldn’t offer this class in that time frame!” and“You couldn’t pay me to teach that material in five-weeks!”","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":52,"length":3,"style":"UNDERLINE"},{"offset":117,"length":3,"style":"UNDERLINE"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"33kpe","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"fmqh9","text":"One brief ray of hope was a senior faculty member who said the five-week summer class was one of his favorites. He did have a course outline somewhere but was leaving on holiday the following day – sorry.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"id4j","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"914fo","text":"While it was true, I had taught this course several times but never in this timeframe. It was a dilemma.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"247tv","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"3gldl","text":"I called a retired colleague who had mentored me through the first semester I returned to the classroom. She invited me to her home, listened to my pros, cons and angst. Her input like the others, was that she would not teach this course. BUT she did have a lot of material, along with some video lectures that she would give me. The decision was up to me.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"419og","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"boj9l","text":"Time to choose…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":15,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1kvcv","text":"Due diligence complete. It was time for the decision. I have a time-tested two-step process for this - little prayer and consultation with the boss. Molly reminded me that when my hands are idle, I am not the happiest of campers and that I have a habit of doing whatever it takes to get projects done. With some positive meditation and an attaboy from my girlfriend, I agreed to teach the class.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"d8ebk","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"dmbv4","text":"Now the work…","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":13,"style":"BOLD"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"4jaai","text":"To put this in perspective, teaching a full semester’s material in five weeks means the following:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"67ne5","text":"Four hours and twenty minutes of contact time, four days a week (Mon-Thurs). ","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"g3am","text":"New physiology systems taught almost every class rather than one per week (e.g., endocrine, heart, digestion, etc.).","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"abovh","text":"Frequent, manually graded homework assignments.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ickd","text":"Labs and quizzes due daily rather than weekly. ","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"h4rv","text":"Weekly rather than monthly unit exams.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"3pck0","text":"Fridays through Sundays spent constructing exams and grading homework/labs.","type":"ordered-list-item","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"ab44p","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8i95g","text":"An upside, the class was virtual. Meaning the commute was from the kitchen to the office in the next room. In addition, the quizzes and exams were automated, meaning, once constructed, they were administrated and graded via a computerized learning system. An elegant online lab program provided students the ability to image anatomy in three dimensions. Thus, students could zoom in and out, rotate 360 degrees, and dissect whatever anatomical structure we were studying (e.g., heart, kidney, lungs, etc.).","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1745e","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8s1vi","text":"Then there were the students themselves. The course began with twenty-four of them. My introductory comments came with the admonition that this material was going to be very challenging. For the next five weeks they would need to eat, drink, and sleep anatomy and physiology. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1419j","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"vn5","text":"I think it is human nature for people to overestimate their capacity to get things done. Some of the students thought the course would be easier because of the short time frame. Others were pretty sure they wouldn't really need to put as much effort into the material as I suggested. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5pice","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"acofl","text":"By the beginning of week two, six students had dropped the course, and by late in the third week, another five slipped into the ether. I was left with twelve disciples, all of whom finished the course exhausted, but relieved that they (and their instructor) had survived the gauntlet.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"chues","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"s7pk","text":"It’s always the end of a thing, isn’t it? From the class introduction it was game on. Five weeks later to the day, it was full stop! To use a theatre expression, we ‘struck the set’ at the final examination and went our separate ways as though we had never met. I always feel a little melancholy when the ‘play,’ the hard work, and the intimacy of the game, ends. But that’s just the way it is every semester.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"e4m98","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"84qh2","text":"The good news is that there will be another day where I will follow the familiar two-step process: a little prayer and consultation with the boss!","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"7calu","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"abj0e","text":"ted","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}}],"entityMap":{},"VERSION":"8.49.2"}" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="jwLWP _2hXa7 Zn7O0 _3n_Yy public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-text-rtl" data-block="true" data-editor="editor" data-offset-key="foo-0-0"><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="foo-0-0"></div></div></div></div></div>tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1252217275418661872.post-28406646515651689442020-08-11T16:28:00.003-07:002020-08-11T21:33:42.629-07:00A glimpse of the future...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“Life is an incredible adventure into<o:p></o:p></div>
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the mysterious unknown future.”<br />
- Debasish Mridha,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Physician, philosopher<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwi2LDX2cLQhpizJOAbGPu4rmQ6qBB86n30NPCOU2TKTDKDd59ak22YqUxsLw4SffxSzY8KhPdQVDPtoeRgaBJfvlQ23LAD3Knu72jueC8e1eCNFKB0Yc5LZAVjc3P8sp8KJ9YE8UiH0/s1600/IMG_4017.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="585" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwi2LDX2cLQhpizJOAbGPu4rmQ6qBB86n30NPCOU2TKTDKDd59ak22YqUxsLw4SffxSzY8KhPdQVDPtoeRgaBJfvlQ23LAD3Knu72jueC8e1eCNFKB0Yc5LZAVjc3P8sp8KJ9YE8UiH0/s200/IMG_4017.jpeg" width="176" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The boys were running down the street, one in pursuit of the other. As you can see, they are young and full of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Full of life.” It is the cycle; you know one generation has a run, full of breath and adventure, and before you know it, the stage manager from the darkened house shouts, “Exit stage right." It's time for the next scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Man, it seems the play has just begun, but other actors are waiting in the wings. They are ready for their '…time in the sun…'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What advice can be given to those just entering the game? They don’t know what they don’t know…the look of enthusiasm in their eyes belies the ‘…don’t know…’ part.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I might share a thought from the twelfth-century Persian poet Hafiz, “Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What would I like for them to tell me, had they a breadth of thought? Perhaps they would quote Mohammed. “A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he does in the world to his fellow man. When he dies, people will say, ‘What property has he left behind him?’ The angels will ask, ‘What good deeds has he sent before him?’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The angels…yes indeed. It's hard to know, isn't it? I mean, what is it we should say? What is it we want (need) to hear?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Confession helps…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have harbored a sense of disappointment as I look over my shoulder, and as I look forward to a time when I step off the stage and into the wings – angels I hope (pun fully intended).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Disappointment may be too strong a word. Maybe it’s a longing to know, clothed in the realization that I never will. Ah, the blessing and the curse…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The blessing? Belonging to a species arriving on the planet with three astonishing tools in our kit: faith, curiosity, and imagination. The curse? The same as the blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the one hand, the promise of a yet unlived future. On the other, regret for all that wasn't done…was not said…was not loved. I am not disingenuous enough to pretend I have not experienced both.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">A simple thought experiment…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">People often ask one another if they had an opportunity to dine with anyone in history, who might that be. The question, of course, is a fool’s errand, irrational. And yet for some reason, many folks find it tantalizing.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In truth, you are only alive as these words pass your eyes and into your mind - the single breath you are taking at this very moment. What you have read to this instant is irrevocably in your past, the next sentence and paragraph still unread.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">You are only alive at the moment you read these words as was I when I wrote them. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe this is a little too granular a digression.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The thought experiment as to who you might want to share a meal with, will at the very least, cause you to dig into your memory banks for events and people of whom you have heard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Let the games begin…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If I’m gonna play, I know exactly with whom I would have dinner. It would be my father. By the time the sound and fury of my early years finished and my working life began, he was gone. He slipped out past the footlights and into a waiting limousine that whisked him away, taillights disappearing into the darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">My mother was less of an enigma, yet also mysterious. But she did take the time and effort to teach me many things. From her, I got tools to navigate new places, new people, new experiences, all with the intentional foundation of faith. In private, she taught me that fear was a state of mind and not be afraid to step into life’s unknown adventures. In public, she chose the life of a minister's wife and as such, was a quiet and supportive spouse. People that knew her loved her. If they had known how fiercely independent and competitive she was, they would have loved her more!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t until my father was gone that I discovered he was a nuanced, well-read thinker, and collector of written thoughts. In saved correspondence and sermons, I discovered his humanity, frailty, and passion. It wasn’t until he was gone that I realized I had never wondered about his mind. We did what I suppose most fathers and sons do, we newspaper reported our lives…the who’s, what’s, where’s, when’s and how’s. By the time the meaningful questions arrived, well, the library was closed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The future of the unknown…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What about the going forward? With whom would I like to nibble away over mindful conversation and a table of healthy calories and drink?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwkoCQFunFqkrYD3xxZc04avCCAcHcc3Kz_lHl5t5L9XDY5kFmJ9pMgCoPTxDfxPJIEAiYy4uUcGomw8E9eFTAuM0L08MLzji46nYt3I_OFpUYe8LMbPCcmQTFpdlA_epkvKMUFiPbiM/s1600/IMG_3532.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU9Qf3exAj_vjoHTo7XN-z1Mwzq6FOJExFoac7DrJYFaOw-FXjOa235gvwdFOsTuCceGAGLn0eGOdQlXEurdlHjoRt0WN2_wkuh45LA4WKVeg2l__wjxcvGKY3XyqL7IsGQPfE8R-hcE/s1600/IMG_4016.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="1271" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU9Qf3exAj_vjoHTo7XN-z1Mwzq6FOJExFoac7DrJYFaOw-FXjOa235gvwdFOsTuCceGAGLn0eGOdQlXEurdlHjoRt0WN2_wkuh45LA4WKVeg2l__wjxcvGKY3XyqL7IsGQPfE8R-hcE/s200/IMG_4016.jpeg" width="178" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">It would be my great-nephews or newly arrived great-niece. You see, to them, I am an old fellow who plays with them some and tells them he loves them. With the pandemic, it happens virtually through the internet. Well, not the playing part.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwkoCQFunFqkrYD3xxZc04avCCAcHcc3Kz_lHl5t5L9XDY5kFmJ9pMgCoPTxDfxPJIEAiYy4uUcGomw8E9eFTAuM0L08MLzji46nYt3I_OFpUYe8LMbPCcmQTFpdlA_epkvKMUFiPbiM/s1600/IMG_3532.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwkoCQFunFqkrYD3xxZc04avCCAcHcc3Kz_lHl5t5L9XDY5kFmJ9pMgCoPTxDfxPJIEAiYy4uUcGomw8E9eFTAuM0L08MLzji46nYt3I_OFpUYe8LMbPCcmQTFpdlA_epkvKMUFiPbiM/s200/IMG_3532.jpeg" width="150" /></a><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe if I am lucky and my health survives the COVID and their teenage years, I might see their lives beginning to emerge…just beginning to emerge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If it is not too strong a word, I feel some melancholy that I will never know these kids as they become fully formed human beings. Don’t misunderstand, it is not about seeing these boys and girl grow up - although that would be pleasant. It is the desire to see them fully formed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I would love to be able to freeze my life, let them experience the future as it comes to them at lightning speed. Then when the wine barrels of their lives have matured, find a small café, a quiet place, and plumb their minds. I suppose I would be interested in what they had done, but like my paternal eating partner, I would want to know what and how they thought. What touched their souls? Who had been their mentors? How had the serendipity of life, intervened to bring them to this table and this conversation? If they could turn back the clock in their imaginations, would they want to have dinner with their dad and mum? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Imagination indeed…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">Both of these meals, the one looking back to my father and forward to my great-nephews and niece, are figments of my imagination, prompted by an unrequited curiosity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the blessing side of things is the ability to create anything in our mind's eye that we like. So many things to be curious about…so many things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The circle? I have faith…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This leads me to return to the tools with which we arrive on the planet: faith, curiosity, and imagination. Considering the thought game above, I have required a well of curiosity and the imagination to 'see' my father as I would like to have known him and the boys and girl as they might be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The third tool in the kit: Faith.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">In the New Testament scriptures, the book of Hebrews says: "…Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…" (Heb 11:1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We know these words to be true because of our empirical experience. The houses in which we live, the cars we drive, the food we eat and the clothing we wear were nothing more than thoughts in someone's mind. They 'saw' something that was 'yet not' and brought from naught the things above because they believed enough to act and bring their thoughts (unseen) to fruition (things seen). We are, as the comedian Steve Martin so aptly put it, "...thought machines..."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In that same way, I have faith in a kind of substance - <i>this</i> <i>substance</i>…I will know my father, mother, great-nephews, and niece in a time and space that is not yet seen. I will know my late sister and others I have loved the same way I knew and loved them in this dimension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1252217275418661872&useLegacyBlogger=true" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">Genuine love comes from a place of mutual resonance…harmonies in the music of the spirit – who knows how? It is not the color of the eyes, nor the dimples in the cheeks. It is the unspeakable but true language, the communion, of two hearts. That is what causes the bond, that is what makes them an essential part of our lives in this dimension and it is what will strengthen that bond in the next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A thought game or enigmatic exercise? The unknown? Sure. It’s one I have played my entire life…one that I fully embrace…one to which I look forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, lest this piece sounds somewhat maudlin, I should be clear it comes with considerable enthusiasm of mind. When the stage manager calls for me to exit stage right, making room for a new act, I look forward to hopping in that limousine and finding those souls past and those things yet to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">- ted</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930110152574945191noreply@blogger.com0