An Observation Most Profound

OK, this falls into many categories.  Taking things for granted.  Not seeing the obvious.  Totally occupied with life, whatever that means.  Unobservant.  Failure to take time to smell the hydrangeas.  Narcissism. Tunnel vision.  The list goes on and on, like Star Wars credits.

All are interrelated and all point to one thing - our inability, or unwillingness, to simply let our minds wander, and wonder.  Free, unencumbered thinking.  Like the lady in the lotto commercial when she makes an observation I’ll bet very few people have ever entertained:  why do they put a pizza, which is round, into a square box….and then slice it into pieces shaped like triangles.  Folks, there are so many life moments right before our eyes, and yet we never see them!  Or worse, we do see them, and never make that connection to something that appears so simple, yet is so profound.

A long time ago, I worked with this woman (I tried to think of a better way to say that, but couldn’t).  Hers was a position requiring analytical thinking.  This was not a job where people thought outside the box.  Here there were rules and a plan, to be followed exactly.  Independent, free thinking was not allowed.  But that did not stop her from dreaming.

What follows is an observation she made one day.  I’ve long since forgotten the exact wording, but I could never forget the lesson.  I think of it often.  Here it is, in the version that I have updated throughout the years. It bears little resemblance to the exact wording of its original form, so Susan, wherever you are now, I apologize, but I do believe I have captured the essence of your observation honestly and completely. 

First, you must go somewhere.  The place you find is ideally situated on a high hill, and presents two distinct views as you stand and slowly turn in a complete circle.  On the one side is pure nature before you.  Trees, mountains, sea, sand, dirt, vegetation,  animals, water, and more.  Think of the vision before you for just what it is: absolute and total wilderness. No hint of mankind here.  It is earth as it existed long before humans ascended the stage.

From this ….

… and this ...

On the other is a view of a large metropolitan area and everything you can survey in it:  tall buildings of steel and glass, cars, airplanes coming and going, ships in harbor, roads, street lights, trucks, bridges, stores, apartments, houses …… ad infinitum.

Then there are the things people use every day: televisions, radios, computers, clothes, personal care products, phones, lamps, lawnmowers, snow blowers, the list folks, is endless….and it is all comprised of the stuff that makes our life possible, and easier -  from a simple ball point pen to the car we drive.  You could add things to this list and never complete it in a month of Sundays.

Came this ….

And, as a final study, look beyond the city and follow the space shuttle as it slowly rises from the earth on its way to outer space.

Now, make the complete observation. As we gaze toward the city scape, realize that at a time in our distant past, none of this existed.  Absolutely none of it. Now, turn and gaze to the forest and the mountains, and the sea….the total wilderness.  At one time, that was all there was.  There was absolutely nothing else.

Now, make the connection.  Everything we have today… everything … came from the raw materials of eons ago - rocks, trees, water, dirt, sand, vegetation, animals, and more.   It's as if I took a few rocks,  part of a tree, some sand, a bunch of grass, and a pail of water… threw them all in a pile on the ground and said "There, go make a television."  

And to solidify the concept in your mind, look at the space shuttle majestically making its way to outer space.  A marvel of modern engineering and construction, it is comprised of 2.5 million separate parts. Its three engines have more power than twelve Hoover Dams.  It is capable of traveling 17,500 miles per hour. It has carried over 600 people to space.  It is the most complex machine ever made.  And ultimately, every single part in it came from rocks, dirt, trees, water, vegetation, etc. At its very essence, everything in the shuttle came from nature. 

And this!

I find this deceptively simple observation so profound that I have trouble finding the exact amalgam of words to adequately express it.  But I gave it a shot. 

Mark Twain Quote: “Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.”

Let's Go Fly a Kite

“Winds in the east, mist coming in.  Like somethin’ is brewin’, and bout to begin.  Can’t put me finger on what lies in store, but I fear what’s to happen all happened before.”

With these words, the versatile Bert opens Walt Disney’s classic movie, “Mary Poppins.”  He could have just as easily sung them at the beginning of a movie I saw recently, a movie titled “Saving Mr. Banks.” This whimsical title certainly gave little clue as to what lie ahead.

If it had the name Walt Disney attached to it, I simply surmised, it must be pure and simple fun. Thus, I approached “Saving Mr. Banks” as just a light hearted, perhaps spirited, yet funny rendition of how the books of P.L. Travers made their way from the printed page to the immortality of the movie screen.  Oh, I got that, indeed I did, but that turned out to be so much more.

Marvelously told, the movie swung me to and fro in an emotional boomerang.  Using flashbacks, we are shown a dark path trod many years before, one that shaped the entire series of Traver’s books.  That path led to something more serious, poignant, and soul wrenching.  Shaped by the well from which they sprung, the books true meaning and purpose came as a surprise. I shall never look upon Mary Poppins in the same way again.

From the heart of a young girl, adversity gave birth to genius.  From intense pain, emerged a true gift.  And at long last, from opportunity, came a chance at forgiveness, and closure.  When Travers finally lets go of Mary Poppins, she frees herself. She, at last, began a life not dictated by her past. 

                                                                                         

Each of us has our story, most of which never gets told.  Yet we carry it with us, every step we take, and it accounts for all that we are, say, and do, even when we make no conscious connection between our idiosyncrasies and our past. The past, like a shadow, is always ours to carry, however we choose.

This story, Traver’s story, is one to catch.  Hers is a tale that, because of darkness, was born the imagination to escape. It is a testimony to her spirit that Travers, working from a deep sense of loss, could even produce a series of children’s books. But it took Walt Disney to move the sometimes dark line in Traver’s books to pure entertainment, fun, and laughter that has entertained generations of children, and some older children as well.  With the rousing final song, "Let's Go Fly a Kite," he gave Mary Poppins the hopeful and happy ending that Travers secretly longed for.

This movie was so much more than I expected, except for Emma Thompson. Emma Thompson is, well, Emma Thompson. Someone give her an award, please.  It is worth a look, more than once.  If you can cry, you should see this movie. If you don’t cry, you must see this movie.  Perhaps you could be freed.  Perhaps you could let go of your past. It surely makes you reflect.

Mark Twain Quote:  “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

Versatile Fenway

One of my little editors, bless her, is politely trying to mold my mindset to accept the idea of publishing more "posts" in 2014 than I did in 2013.  My original goal when this all started was to do one a week. A mere 52 posts a year.  HA!  Fool!

Little did I realize that a) life sometimes gets in the way of things, and b) some posts require lots of research and effort.  That should not have surprised me, but it did … and it took me off guard.  My first year, I published 35 posts, last year, 36.  This year, who knows.  But at least I should take a stab at it, I suppose.  OK, challenge accepted….this year, it's 37 (or more) or bust!  So, beware, you'll see some "fillers" now and then as I work on deeper, more involved posts (I happen to have 2 in the hopper now).  Just a heads up folks.

Of course, this particular one of my sometimes, when they feel like it, part time, volunteer editors, is an accomplished author with many books, articles, and essays on her resume, so she is obviously one organized little dynamo. And the planter of ideas.  Hmmm, the more I think of it, I do believe one of my posts this year should be about her.  How's that for an idea?

This one is a filler, yet it isn't, 'cause it's about one of my favorite and most dear places on this whole earth. I mean Fenway Park, of course.  But it isn't just Fenway, as I can't separate it from the entire rest of what I also love by extension.  I speak of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  From Amherst to Boston, from Cape Ann (a nice visit in its own right) to Cape Cod, there is just something about this entire corner of the world that warms me, calms me, refreshes me, inspires me.  Driving in and around Boston remains a notable exception, of course.

It isn't just because I used to work there, kinda.  It's not just because of all the friends I have there.  It's about the land itself, from Rockwell, to Quincy, to the Bourne, to Gloucester, to the Berkshires.

But I digress….back to Fenway.  One of the things that happens infrequently, but with vengence when it does, is to snow heavily and mightily in the Boston area.  Once a year or so, the news will have a story to tell about my favorite city being socked in by a storm, or a Nor'easter, as they are sometimes known.

What do Bostonians do in such cases?  They rise up and make the best of things…they make fun where they can, and for the rest, they make Strong.

I include two pictures of Fenway Park after the last storm.  Or should I say The Fenway Sled Park.  Now here, they took the lemon and came up lemonade.  No sense wasting a good pile of snow, thanks to the home of the World Champs. Frugal and inventive folks, these New Englanders.

Mark Twain Quote:  "Tomorrow night I appear for the first time before a Boston  audience -- 4000 critics."