After reading a plethora of newspaper articles this weekend I decided to push back from the table of public affairs. It is not that I am giving up on our world but I need a break. Trade wars, impeachment, Brexit, Iran and North Korea will just have to wait. Time for some fun thinking. 

Several years back I happened upon a woman on a deck overlooking the Atlantic in Ponte Vedra. She was chatting with a friend and wore a red baseball cap. I apologized for smoking a cigar but was given absolution for it was my birthday. This cute damsel immediately threw a question at me. “Is your life a roller coaster or a merry go round?” What a fascinating  question.

In a dose of revery I am contemplating deeply on this beautiful Florida morning. We or at least I tend to look at things in an analytic terms. Is it this or that and then we apply some sort of standard to see if our theorem is valid.  When do we just stop and have fun? No right or wrongs, just letting it rip.

If you were a fish what type would you be? Would you sport dazzling colors or would want to blend in with reefs on the ocean floor? Do you travel in schools or pods or do you search the ocean like the Great White? Part of the food chain or king or queen of the undersea world? Me? I think I would like to be a porpoise. Cavorting with friends and sometimes veering off on my own. Chasing an ocean liner or freighter and having people look down and say, man I wish I could do that. Funny thing is they can.

Birds are interesting creatures. At our little refuge called Harbour Ridge there are thousands of them of all shapes and sizes. Some are delicate, some are brazen. They all patrol looking for their next meal. There is an osprey nest high above our seventh hole on one of our golf courses. It’s a par three and you usually wait for the green to clear. You get to know the family and the cycle of life as they grow from chicks to kids and rehearsing for their first solo flight. Real life.

Sand hill cranes are graceful and unruffled. Egrets soar and swoop. Cardinals shoot by and their color is surprising on the oh so green landscape. The ducks spawn their flocks and they parade through the ponds with Mom watching closely. Their numbers dwindle as they become breakfast or dinner for some gator but it is part of life. I think the osprey would be me. Observing my milieu from an aerie and hopefully raising a decent family. 

What if I was a car? Here the possibilities are endless. Are you functional and practical or are you gaudy and ostentatious?  Prius or Porsche? Ford or Ferrari? Is your top down and blaring some music that you sing along to or are you hermetically sealed and away from the outside world? 

You belong to a club and of course you must keep up with the Joneses as you make your grand entrance in the parking lot. BMW or Bentley? Maybe something more classic like a 65 Mustang or vintage Mercedes roadster. But then again maybe your club is not country but local. Perhaps we are taking about a big ass Ford F250 and everyone leers jealously as you pull into you local watering hole. I would probably be an Audi. Q5 for some room but not too big. Dark green with tan interior. Neat but not gaudy. 

Clothes are fun. I laugh when I see the weekend segments of the New York Times or WSJ. There is some pain in the ass designer from Milan, Paris or New York who wants to tell me that I am dated. Maybe I am but I don’t want to hear it from him or her. My nephew tells me pleats are out. BFD. It is a metaphor of how you feel in your own skin. Constantly changing or comfortable with what you got. 

 Dress codes seem to be going by the wayside. We were in a very nice oceanfront restaurant the other night. It was special night and we tried to dress accordingly. Across the way were two couples and the guys were wearing tee shirts and ball caps. If clothes make the man I wonder what that meant? I guess for me my appearance is a thing of pride not haute couture. Do people not care how they look or is that their way of expressing themselves? Good question. 

All this meandering up and down the hallways of my mind is to me a lot of fun. Thinking outside the box. Trying to simplify the world not make it more complicated. Not trying to invent the latest and greatest but studying the present lineup of Mother Nature and our everyday lives. Taking all we have and making it relevant without yearning for this or that. We are indeed lucky no matter what our lot. 

Getting back to that cute girl in the ball cap. A gust blew up and knocked it off her head. Beneath she was as bald as I am. She was there for a month undergoing chemo at the Mayo Clinic. I don’t know if she made it but she really got me thinking. I thank her for that. It made me pause and I try to do so every day. I hope I got you trying to do the same

As always

Ted The Great  

Factoids:

In 2017 there were 237 existing car models on sale in the US with 38 new models introduced. There are 1.2 billion cars on the roads worldwide at the present time with 2 billion expected by 2035. 

There are a collection of 16 million colors a computer can generate. The question of what is your favorite is complicated. Add to that is the fact you and I see and comprehend colors differently. My favorite color is green. Look out your window and tell me how many shades of green you see.?

There are over 24,000 species of fish worldwide. There are at least 18,000 species of birds. Try to define yourself in that crowd. If you think about it their designer is not in Paris and most likely of another world. At least I think so. 

Fully 35% of the population of the United States over 40, considers themselves lonely. I don’t know what that adds up to in millions but let’s just say the number is daunting. Many of them do not have even one person they can go to in a jam. Were we always this solitary?

I am reading a book by David Brooks, “The Second Mountain”. Intriguingly I have asked several people what they think of this erudite columnist for the New York Times and I get strange responses. Arch conservatives consider him a sellout. Others reason he is just another talking head. I find his insights to be provocative regardless of philosophical bent. It dawned on me how much people just tune out parts of the world. 

In his book he discerns between community and tribalism. Community is a connection based on mutual affection. Tribalism is based on mutual hatred. In our efforts to stoke individualism we close doors not open them. Basically if we only surround ourselves with like minders we keep narrowing our spheres of influence and communication. Pretty soon we can’t find anyone of our ilk or if we do the conversation becomes so stale as to not even be worthwhile. 

I remember years ago when my mom was dying. I came in from Arizona to visit her. One afternoon while she was taking a nap, I took a walk in the little village where I grew up. Let’s say there were fifty or sixty homes in the vicinity. As I traversed the South Drives and Heights Roads, I could tell you the name of every person who had lived in each house. An anecdote about that family or a particular personality cropped up continually. Could anyone do that today? 

We no longer need to write hard copy with pen and ink. We can email or text and the better the shorthand, the faster I can get this over with. Thoughts are now in acronyms. LMAO. TTFN. WTF. Emoticons take the place of prose. Everything designed for sweet and simple. No sense in wasting all that emotion. We have streamlined society. 

Today, people go weeks and months without ever having contact with another human being. Order your coffee or lunch by phone. Swipe your card. Never look up. Eye contact verboten. Linger over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine? What are you nuts? I am a busy person and so much to do.  Why waste the time? 

We don’t go to the store. Amazon Prime will soon get it to you by this afternoon after your internet order. Probably by drone so you don’t have to see the delivery person. Your taxi or bus will soon be driverless. Golf courses will equip carts with music. Why? Who wants to waste time with meaningless conversation. I can listen to a podcast between shots. That sounds of nature bullshit is way overrated. I have to be more productive in my spare time.  

We play video games instead of Monopoly or Risk. I don’t want to go to exercise class. I will get my own personal trainer. Better yet I can hop on my Peloton and become wired to someone hundreds of miles away whom I have never met, much less had a meaningful conversation with. 

The most existential question in all of this, If I don’t have to care about anyone else but me who the hell is going to eventually worry about me when I can’t? Do I have any meaning or worth? Hmmm, if I don’t, why should I go on living? Suicides have jumped 35% since 2000. Any wonder?

We don’t trust our institutions. The Church, the government, and corporate America like Boeing? If there is no God why do we need ethics? If politicians are corrupt why obey the laws? If the bottom line is more important than integrity then I better change my ways before I get left behind.

This may sound hyperbolic. I think not. The more individual we become the more estranged we are from human emotion. Empathy, pathos, charity, brotherhood, motherhood, all become collateral damage. 

I can attest to Mr.Brooks poignant observation that there is no greater wellspring of joy than when one gives of themselves. When you have made someone’s day better by smile or a helping hand you can’t help but feel good inside. Correction. Not good but fantastic. You have made them feel worthy of consideration in our thoughtless world. 

Recently I have had a long talk with a friend who tragically lost his brother. I also had a casual acquaintance break down when for some reason he decided to tell me of a horribly dysfunctional upbringing. I had a woman in hospice who finally sobbed after being a rock for her failing husband for 6 long years. 

There is nothing special about putting yourself out there for others. We are social beings and we all need a shoulder to cry on. Our loneliness is self imposed and so unnecessary. If you are particularly feeling bad, put down all the electronics and head for Starbucks. There is someone, somewhere that just needs a friendly face or a welcoming pose. Sorry about this falderal  but get used to it.  I am just not going to leave you alone.

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

One third of those from the age of 45-63 are single. You can be lonely in groups if you are unable to feel worthwhile.

Cries for help. People who become more withdrawn and unwilling to go out socially are actually screaming for help. 

Loneliness affects our heart rate, immune system and overall longevity. Today’s living environments with large apartment buildings or tract housing contribute to a sense of isolation. 

There is a Jekyll and Hyde side to technology. It makes it easier for people to anonymously say pretty nasty things. On another note the spontaneity of reaching out to an old friend has its rewards. Go figure.