On The Simplicity of Fall

It was a beautiful fall day here, nearly perfect. The sun broke free, the sky was a bright blue, the weather was temperate, with the slightest of breezes. I tried to sleep in, but had slept well enough the night before that I couldn't pull it off, so I had a lazy morning, then went out and ran a couple of errands.

I had lunch at the Race Street Fish Market (fish, scallops, fries, and chowder), stopped at Orchard Supply Hardware to pick up a couple of odds and ends, swung by CVS for the same reason, popped in for a massage at the spa, then circled home for a nap. Dinner was pancakes and fruit at Holders Country Inn.

I love these very ordinary days, especially in the fall. All of the beauty of the world wrapped in simplicity, or perhaps all the simplicity of the world wrapped in beauty. Either way they are tightly entangled. The artificial tree in the picture sits in my living room and is a splash of color. I have a mix of artificial and real plants in the apartment, to give that splash of color and add that necessary organic touch.

I Trembled

the rain crashed
against the window
the clock counted
all the stolen hours
under your hand
I trembled
I twisted and I turned
tangled and burned
somewhere a lost guitar
played the songs of a thief
struck the seventh chord of lust
bound us together
written on the ribbons
woven in our limbs
all the ancient stories
all the sacred tongues
the rain crashed
against the window
the clock counted
all the stolen hours
under your hand
I trembled
I twisted and turned
tangled and burned

Though A Glass Darkly - Oct. 6th Picture

My glasses (normally I wear contacts). They bring to mind one of my favorite passages from St. Paul:

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am also known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)

I've always loved that particular passage because it speaks to me very clearly of the nature and power of faith. In this life our faith is imperfect, flawed. We live with the promise of the next life and the perfection of our faith.

Time Devours All Things - Oct 5th Photo

"Tempus edax rerum" - Ovid (Time devours all things.)

This is my pocket watch. I alternate between carrying it and wearing my wrist watch. For reasons I don't entirely understand the pocket makes me more aware of the passage of time. It is as if the time that moves on the pocket watch is a more stately time, a more serene time.

The pocket watch also puts me in mind of one of my favorite short stories - "The Paladin of the Lost Hour" by Harlan Ellison, in his collection "Angry Candy". It was also a critically acclaimed Twilight Zone episode (from 1985). I like the closing narration:

"Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, time carries away the names and deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, all that remains is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment. A blessing of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty: God be between you and harm in all the empty places you walk."

I often look at time as the true coin of our lives. We have second, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years - but we have them in a finite number. How we choose to spend time, more than money, more that any other thing, is what shapes our lives. Are you conscious of hour you are spending the coin of your life? Are you aware what you are buying? Is it worth it?

The Odds of Meeting Naps

I slept late this morning.  I am blaming part of it on the weather, which is cool and rainy.  I am blaming another part of it on yesterday’s flu shot.  I will blame a third part of it on “because I could”. The rain definitely has me in a lazy fall mood. I am currently in the office and I came back from lunch in a steady rain.  It was nice walking across the parking lot with big drops of rain popping on my jacket.  I love the sky, a broken blue lined with cumulus clouds, painted in shades of white and gray.

Work has been pretty good today. I started the day with a small avalanche of things, but managed to maneuver my way through them. I had a meeting cancel, so it is a two meeting day, which is pretty rare.  On an average day I attend about five hours worth of meetings.  The light meeting schedule means I’ve had the opportunity to make some progress today.  I still have a handful of things that I need to work my way through, but the afternoon is mostly clear, so I should be able to make a little more headway.

I was joking with one of my co-workers today that, as a corporation, we could probably save millions of dollars a year if we could do just one thing – stay on topic in our meetings.  When it comes to meetings, there are a bare handful of things you can which will vastly increase the value of your meetings.  Let’s call them Rod’s Rules of Meetings.

Rule One:  Restrict meetings to one topic.

Rule Two: Always publish an agenda at least one full working day prior to the meeting.

Rule Three:  If you have hand-outs or presentation materials, distribute them with the agenda.

Rule Four: Only invite people who have a clear and compelling business need to attend.

Rule Five: Keep actual meeting minutes.

Now, if you can do even one of those five things, you will significantly improve the quality and content of any meetings you host or are involved in.  And the odds are that I will nap in your meeting are much smaller.

 

Courtyard - Oct. 4th Photo

As I approach my apartment from the south, I pass through a corridor that transitions into the open and very green courtyard. On certain days the air is rich with the scents of flowering plants, the heady and powerful scent of life.
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A Knife for October - Oct. 3rd Photograph

This little item has been my constant companion for the last decade or more. About the only time it is not in my pocket is when I am on an airplane, and then, if I have a checked bag, it is in my checked bag. Growing up on a ranch in rural South Dakota a pocket knife was an essential tool. Though my knife no longer sees the heavy use it did when I was young it comes in handy often enough that it is never far from my pocket.

Today was a Monday at work. I started the day with a six thirty a.m. meeting about something that I really could do nothing about, but that I was involved in for more of an advisory role. I mostly sat in my La-Z-Boy, drinking coffee and listening. I think a surprising amount of management work is simply listening. Once clear of the meeting I moved pretty smoothly through an ordinary Monday, at times amusing, at times frustrating, but mostly just what it was.

I was thinking as I drove into the office that it is rarely work content, rarely even work load, that manages to get me worked up at work. Mostly, it has to do with work environment, with things that are pretty much well beyond my control and at the margins of my ability to influence. In that I am reflective of most of the working world - the greatest source of stress for a worker arises from the things they have no control over. Give a worker control over their working day and their stress levels drop rapidly.

With the early start of the day there was a corresponding early end to day, but we had a good shower going about the time I left the office and it was enough to snarl traffic pretty badly on the freeway, so I took surface streets home. It was smooth but slow. Once home I made a bowl of soup and a sandwich and had a simple dinner, then followed it up by watching a bit of Ken Burn's new documentary that is currently running on PBS - "Prohibition". It is interesting, but I keep waiting for some narrative thread to pull it all together. From there, I slipped into a nice hot bath and the conclusion of that bath brought me right here, to this moment.

If I had any insight from the day it would be that much of my stress arises from environmental issues, not work content or work load. I seem to get offended by the structural things, though I can manage the frictional things very well. Of course, the structural things are the things that are the hardest to do anything about. Those are the ones that I have to work on simply letting go.

It is my short work week this week, so I am already a quarter of the way through it. I have one major thing I want to do this week, which is work on performance reviews, both for myself and for my employees. As far as tasks are concerned, it is mostly writing. I just need to carve out some time to sit down and write.

A Confession and A Photograph for Oct. 2nd

I am here to confess to a terrible sin. Given the slightest opportunity, given the weakest provocation, given a reason of any sort, no matter how fragile or flimsy and I will indulge myself in...reading. Hedonistic, unhesitating, opportunistic, sensuous, luxurious, passionate, all encompassing reading.

A book, whether fiction, non-fiction, poetry or any and all of them has the ability to transport me to another realm of the senses, where the real and the unreal mingle and we dwell in a world of almost limitless possibilities. There is a sweet surrender that takes place between the covers of a book, a total surrender to the will and the power of the author. I love it.

This photograph is part of my October collection, I have twin nightstands on each side of my bed. This is the one on the right side of the bed, if you stand at the foot and face the head. It serves as a resting place for the book that is read, even if only for a moment, as I fall asleep or as I wake.

If you want to make a small transformational change in your day, try this - place one of your favorite books, either new or old, next to your bed and immediately on waking, before you get out of bed, turn on the light and read a passage or two, then close your eyes and contemplate it for a while.

The book in current "high rotation" on my nightstand is "The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Onono Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan." by Jane Hirschfield (Translator). If you are a fan of the beautiful simplicity of Japanese poetry, I would definitely recommend that you add this book to your collection. It was recommended to me by T.R. and I have been slowly devouring it. Some books of poetry are meant to be slowly consumed, so that you can truly savor each taste they contain.

October 1st Photo - Gort in Action

As an exercise I thought I would take and post one photograph of one ordinary thing in my life for each day in October. This is today's photo - Gort in Action. Klaatu Barada Nikto.

The Simplicity Never Went Anywhere

It's a soft and beautiful morning here. There is fog that will burn off as the day progresses. But, for now, it is a quiet and soft dawn. I woke up about six a.m., which is close to normal time for me, and have spent a lazy morning so far. I watched "Fringe" on the DVR. Last night I spent some time with T.R. and then slipped off to sleep after reading a chapter or two in "The Clash of Kings".

I don't really have anything planned for this weekend. Breakfast with friends in about an hour and a half, then probably a trip to Fry's, and then over to Bob's to wind out the afternoon with the guys. A simple dinner and then a quiet evening at home. In short, I hope it is going to sort out to be a simple and easy Saturday.

I got a text from my brother this morning, and he was commenting on missing the simplicity of the Saturday mornings, the anticipation and the excitement of watching the old cartoon "Space Ghost". I think the Saturday morning cartoon memory is one deeply ingrained in many Americans as a symbol of the simplicity of childhood.

Of course, as an adult, there is nothing to prevent you from having the exact same morning. I responded to my brother that it really is all about the choices we make. I would compare this morning with the simplicity of those mornings, all those years ago. You just need to make the choices to embrace the simplicity of life. That simplicity never went anywhere. You went somewhere. And maybe the cartoons changed. For instance, I am not watching "Space Ghost". I am watching the alluring Maggie Q. in "Nikita".