Author: Quixote

This morning I was in the locker room with a fellow I’ve known for a while, but we don’t have a lot of “down” time to chat. Also, we’ve had some stressful events between us as a result of our work together. Nothing serious, just unresolved stress.

Anyway, the two of us were gamely trying to make conversation. It wasn’t as if much got said. It was more as if simply the act of trying to make conversation was all that was required for us to resolve tension.

I wonder how much of our social glue is simply these attempts to connect and the sincere interest we show in wanting to create community. I wonder if it’s less important whether we succeed in some grand way to connect or make community, and more important that we simply try.

Evidence of a friendly universe: the effort to make conversation and connect.

Q

Evidence of a friendly universe: rhubarb.

Stewed with sugar. Pour it over ice cream or yogurt. One need do nothing more.

Q

With that title, I’d like to include a photo but I don’t yet have one of this year’s bloom.  Maybe I will in another day or two.

I live near the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and, every year at this time, it’s exciting to see the cherry trees blossom outside the Museum and in the Gardens.

There are very few things as pretty as the cherry blossoms.  I’m not sure I can think of anything prettier.

Evidence of a friendly universe: cherry blossoms.

Q

I bicycle to the pool every morning, year-round, at the same hour: 5:30am.  As winter changes to spring and spring changes to summer, I witness those changes through the lens of this moment of the day — from 5:30 to 6am.  In winter, at that hour, it’s still night. By mid-summer, it’s after sunrise, and the day has already started. These weeks, now, are my favorites.  5:30 is the hour when the birds begin singing their morning songs in the pre-dawn and dawn.  There’s something unique and special about riding down a Brooklyn street at that hour, with the birds, invisible in the trees and bushes, but surrounded by buildings, singing all around me.

I don’t know if it’s exactly “friendly,” in that the birds aren’t singing for me, however it’s definitely one of those moments that bring me enormous pleasure and bring me a lot of happiness, first thing in the morning.

Evidence of a friendly universe: song birds.

Q

I’m grateful for my incredibly good health. I often forget to appreciate it.

Yes, I’ve worked at it. I wake up between 4:45 and 5:15 every morning to workout. I eat well. I watch my weight. I don’t do drugs. I rarely drink alcohol. I don’t smoke. My idea of fun is usually human- and brain-powered. And I’ve had a lifestyle like this pretty much for ever, barring a few years of comparative decadence spread over my lifetime. I will note, however, that I don’t get enough sleep.

My main resource and “wealth” is my health and my willingness to work hard at pursuits I find rewarding. “Reward,” here, doesn’t mean money. I try to use my health and work ethic to bring happiness to those who are less fortunate. I hope that makes the world a better, friendlier place.

Evidence of a friendly universe: my good health. I hope others benefit from it too. (I find myself wondering why I feel that way. Why should I care if others benefit from it? I suppose that I’d feel parsimonious to have so much of this sort of wealth and not share it with those who have very little.)

Q