I meant to do a post a couple weeks ago, but didn’t, therefore you get more to read. Almost two weeks ago the World Series ended with the Phillies taking the title. That might as well have marked the beginning of winter. The next day my dad and I closed our pool. The end of each means the end of summer, at least in my mind.
Those two days were quite melancholic for me because this summer has been one of the most memorable I’ve ever had. It starts with Baseball. I got my first opportunity to coach youngsters. That was a learning experience for me and has somewhat guided me to the realization that I want to impact the youth in some way. Getting back into Baseball has also allowed me to let go of the regret that built up over time from quitting when I could have kept playing. I no longer have dreams at night reminding me of what could have been. Coaching essentially helped me reach a peace of mind. The summer was also good as far as Baseball goes because I got to see a good many games at Camden Yards. I think I got to see the Red Sox twice.
And now I must share some of my memories of the pool. I was probably the first person in the pool this season as usual. I guess that was sometime in mid-May or a bit later when I got home from school. I don’t think I went swimming at night and if I did I don’t remember because I was drunk. I do know that I at least put my feet in the pool at night. Before this summer I had never had people over to hang poolside often. This summer was different, we hung out during the day and during the night; one time almost until dawn. All I have to do is look out my window and look down at the pool, close my eyes and I can take myself back to those times. It will be as if they were happening in front of me.
So much for it being winter in my mind for two days later Mother Nature pulled a quick one on me and gave us a 70 degree day to start off November. What a great day that was. Aside from being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt, I was able to awaken thoughts in my head that I had never had complete convictions of. A quote from Henry David Thoreau got my intellect running: “Quote”. With my mind stimulated by an observation from a great mind I set out on a walk around my neighborhood. The day was so beautiful; I looked at the trees in their fall splendor, each colored to what Nature had intended for the year. Looking at the trees reminded me of all the times I had observed trees in the backseat of a car on country rides. One thing I eventually noticed on these rides was that the trees grew in the outline of their shadows. That is, a tree to the east would only grow as much sunlight as it was given from the west. If I looked at the silhouettes of trees and compared them to the barriers in the west they were almost identical. With those observations in my mind came a thought: Man, like those trees, will grow with what it is given, but will almost certainly grow in the shadow of those that came before it. I haven’t quite developed the thought further than that, maybe I did at the time, but I can’t recall now some 10 days later.
But back to Thoreau. I just started re-reading Walden last week. I read it once a few years ago and took some things away from it, but probably not as much as I will this time. I highly recommend the book to anyone with the free time and an open mind.
I watched an interesting film for the first time last week. True Romance is a blend of many genres and I can’t say I really remember how the plot goes. But it’s a good enough film that I recommend watching it. If for any reason, watch it because Brad Pitt plays a stoner that never leaves his couch. Think couch guy from Half Baked except Pitt’s character is somewhat functional. The only thing I really remember from the film is that Kung Fu is used symbolically.
I would also like to take the time to relate a couple experiences I recently had. One occurred in the morning last Thursday or Friday leaving the gym. I came outside and there was a crisp-ness in the air, hitting my lungs like the tartness of an apple hits the tongue. However, the dampness and coolness in the air had a balancing affect like that of the apple’s sweetness to the tartness. It was one of those mornings I had longed for while reading Henderson the Rain King. Henderson, the narrator, describes mornings on his farms such as these that I had experienced last week. I was far away from a morning like this in
An experience that consciously happened for the first time last week was listening to the leaves fall from the trees. They had held their place on the branches until a couple days of wind and rain last week and were continuing to fall on that afternoon. I was walking my dogs through the woods and stopped for a moment. What I heard excited my ears. It was as if it was raining like at the start of a downpour. It was one of the most calming and serene moments I have enjoyed lately; truly something I will cherish and embrace in future moments.
