Twenty five years ago today the internet sprung forth, for better and worse.
Better because of the obvious. Worse because of the obvious.
We got along fine without it. Think you could do without it now? Those of us that somehow muddled through life without instant gratification of every kind know we could. It would be boring for a while but Real Life has plenty to offer without wires and signals and bitcoins and world wide community.
My dear sweet Katie got a lesson in Real Life this morning. I nested three rare breed chicks (like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re getting) yesterday. Hoping for some exotic color and behavior for the coop. Katie checked on them with first light, picked the weakest of the three up and it expired in her hand. Real Life Lesson. It will stay with her longer than the supposedly dramatic inconvenience of a cracked screen on her I-Phone.
If the transition from West O to the farm has been my soul’s balm it has been less so for Katie. Accustomed to the trappings of 68130, the starkness of the Bar None has been quite the adjustment. We had five tvs on Ontario St., like most west’oers, didn’t need four of them. We have one now. Its been over 9 months since I’ve microwaved anything at all. Didn’t need that either. Listened to a lot of AM radio over the last few months, no COX cable and no stereo in the house.
Funny things happen when you exit the rat race. First there are fewer rats and that alone is the bonus. But life also slows down. Real Life comes into sharper focus. Distractions fade. What’s really important becomes more clear. Enlightenment comes easier. Celebrating the emergence of a seedling or the birth of a chick. Understanding that loss is sometimes the most important of lessons.
The Circle of Life. That most powerful if most often ignored Reality that can shake even the most self absorbed from their sumptuous bliss.
Most people rightly accuse me of a degree of hyperbole. But I don’t exaggerate when I tell you over the last two days I have seen tens and tens of thousands of birds migrating over the Bar None. I had to look away from my “business” and look up to see them, streaming endlessly on high.
You need only take a moment to reflect on the Good Mother. And yes, even your own mortality- that helps clarification of what is really significant.
No screen or a tweet or post or social media of any kind is really necessary. You’ve always had what it takes to be Really Happy.
All along, right there in the palm of your hand.
And 45 years ago.
1969 NCAA Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NYC
1. 28:59 Gerry Lindgren (WA St)
2. 29:01 Mike Ryan (AF)
3. 29:12 Prefontaine (OR)
4. 29:17 Ron Bednarski (UTEP)
5. 29:27 Arthur Dulong (Holy Cross)
6. 29:37 Gary Bjorklund (Minn)
7. 29:28 Howell Michael (Wm&Mary)
8. 29:42 Charles Schrader (MD)
9. 29:46 Gregory Brock (Stanford)
10. 29:51 William McKillip (UTEP)
11. 29:56 Donal Walsh (Villanova)
12. 29:57 Sidney Sink (Bowling Green)
13. 29:57 Ken Misner (FL St)
14. 29:58 Ken Silvious (E. KY)
15. 29:59 Mike McClendon (OR)
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