lap dance

My father sent me a note this evening commenting on my blogs.  One of the comments related to the 10-11-12 short entry. This referred to fleeting moments and the need to seize time.  Dad told me about a Horace Mann quote which reads, "Lost yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with 60 diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever."

I'm about to complete my current lap around the track this weekend.  Ready to start on the next one in a few days.  The truth is that on this last lap as on all of the preceding ones, there are golden hours that were lost.  There are also golden hours that were not.  And there are still other golden hours that were not lost, but I was not wise enough to realize they were golden at the time and only see the beauty in retrospect.

Probably not unique in this way.  I was watching a documentary about athletes the other day who had lost it all and were broke. Their stories were repetitive and depressing. They took for granted their skill and wealth and are now bereft of both--all they have are recollections of joy and their foolishness.

Heard today about a colleague who is in his last hours.  Can see the guy clearly. Always had a twinkle in his eye.  He was around my age when I knew him as a colleague, then he must have retired, and now we get this notice telling us that we might want to consider a program for him to recall his contributions.

There's an old Honeymooner episode where Ralph and Norton are trying to identify their good "pernts" and bad "pernts" with the idea to focus on the bad pernts and make them good ones.  As I approach turning into this next lap I think that while I am very happy with a number of things about what I have done with time, what I believe is a bad "pernt" is not realizing that certain golden hours were golden.

I wonder if that is how A-Rod feels now having been benched in the playoffs despite being the highest paid player in baseball.  I wonder if Romney and Obama in this whirlwind that has been the last six months, have had time to marvel at what both of them have accomplished.   I am a fan of one of these pols and not the other, but regardless I admire them both for their energy if nothing else and perseverance.  They have been putting on their game faces nearly every hour of every day and one will of course lose.  That person will still have had many golden hours which they might have difficulty acknowledging as such.

A walk for an ice cream cone, a smile in a park, dinner with your folks, reading a good book, whacking a tennis ball just where you wanted to... golden moments each set with 60 diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are lost forever. My lap dance as I begin a new trip should be to take the steps to reverse the bad pernt that on occasion has had me not acknowledge some golden hours that are now lost forever.