- Beware the whispered message. It might not mean what you think it does. And that may be just the point.
It’s much easier for me to ignore whispered asides these
days; I can’t hear as well as I once did, and I’m never sure I heard the
message clearly in the first place. So the inevitable ‘huh?’ spoils the intent
of the whisper! Over time I learned to fake it! Trouble is, I never knew if I
was supposed to know or act in a certain way thereafter. I wasn’t perplexed by
this, but one wonders about the others who were!
Uneasy, maybe; perplexed no. I try to avoid these situations
entirely now. Life is about learning and adapting; not working at understanding
casual subtleties.
- The weather. I want to talk about the weather. And no this is not an indication I have run out of topics! Shame on you!!
This winter has been much warmer than normal; precipitation
has been somewhat usual but more in rain than snow. Our snow total so far this
season is half our usual – 16 inches rather than 34. But rain has been frequent
through the months. Gray and cloudy weather has accompanied the winter months;
this cloud cover has kept ground temperatures warmer than normal. But warm
sunny days have been a welcome surprise. Usually winter sun means bitter cold;
not this year. It is a blessing.
We count blessings these days. Another day without snow or
bitter cold is a good thing. It is easier to live with. One may trip in the
sunshine, but never slip and fall. That is a blessing. And of course, the car
works better on dry pavement. So many things to be thankful for. Warm weather
is nice. Not too hot, you understand. Not too cold. Just right. Like the three
bears and the porridge bowls. Just right.
- Used to drive a lot consulting with Midwestern clients. Four to 7 hour drives to the client, then a day or two working with them, then the return drive. Lots of road time. Lots of winter weather survived. Slick roads and poor visibility. But no down times in motels due to weather. Not once in 40 years. Slower travel seems worse than it actually was. Creeping along a stretch of highway rarely added more than an hour to the overall trip. Seemed longer than that, but………
Now I miss the road time; not the weather challenge, but the
road time. Sitting behind the wheel of the car for the better part of a day
gave me time to ponder; analyze; solve problems. Listened to a lot of music en
route; some talk shows, but stopped doing that when NPR lost a lot of funding
from Congress and dropped Quirks and Quarks. One of the most evocative radio
programs ever. Science and math made
exciting. Actually made sense. Just imagine it!
The music. A lot of classical; some opera with the time and
solitude to actually pay attention to it. I still don’t know how people get the
impact of opera in group settings; too many distractions in a crowd. But then,
I never understood why youth go to concerts, stand through the entire things,
wave their arms and bodies constantly, and sing, yell and shout throughout the
concert! How do they hear the music? And what of the lyrics? It’s been a puzzle
to me for many years.
PBS runs their special concerts throughout the year, usually
at pledge time. They focus on music that were or echo ‘great performances.’
What I’ve come to notice is that the music is slower, more melodic, more
emotional; lyrics are understandable. They state complete sentences and connect
the dots of the piece so well. Recently they ran a concertized version of Phantom
of the Opera. I was swept up in the emotional content shared by performer,
music and voices; an upward soaring of drama that sucked me along in its
vortex. Exciting. Enthralling. Totally embracing. Wow!
In the car I played many CDs of Broadway shows: Phantom was
one; Les Miserables was another. Both of these in particular transported me to
special places in the mind. Such emotional content and pleasure. The highway
miles melted away but so did my tensions and stress of a busy life.
- At times like those, I often wonder if people understand how important art is to our lives? Art is not an escape as much as it is a flight to a different scheme of thinking and perceiving the world. In this special ‘place’ we are free to think and relate, innovate and invent. Moods are uplifted along with aspirations. Our willingness to achieve is unleashed. It is a very good thing.
Mixing life with art enhances both. We ignore this element
with great peril to our quality of life. Support the arts. Insist school
curricula include art. Equip our youth with the tools to imagine and celebrate.
May their journey time be fruitful and anticipated!
March 13, 2012
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