The Fine Line

This morning  - at 5:45 a.m. - I saw a woman riding a unicycle and wearing a head lamp.  A unicycle.  In the dark.  On uneven terrain.  Didn't she know that she could fall and hurt herself?  As I jogged past her I thought a lot about her.  Was she brave? Was she adventurous?  Or was she just plain crazy?

Probably all of the above.

Seeing her made me think about who these unicyclists are and what makes them tick.  I searched the internet and found lots of unicycle sites, unicyclist communities, unicycle clubs, and even something called the Arizona Muni Weekend 2015.

Come to think of it, we are all like the unicyclist.

We are all part brave, part adventurous, and just plain crazy.

There really is a very fine line...

It's Not About The Miles

This is a photo of my friend.  A real friend.  Seriously, the real kind.

He would be quite mad if he knew I posted this.

But the good thing about friends is that they are resilient and forgiving.  He'll get over his irritation pretty quickly.  He's a very kind man and has a lot of practice forgiving me.

I have known my friend since 1994.  We became buddies through running.  We are not fast, but we have endurance.  The good thing about running slowly is that you are together longer.

By a conservative estimate, we have run together about 280 days per year for twenty years.  Typically 3 miles per day except for Fridays and Sundays when we go 6.  Sometimes we skip in bad weather or when we have nagging injuries.  That's becoming more frequent these days.

Nonetheless, I estimate that we have run about 22,500 miles together.  That's New York to L.A. seven times.  Since we average about 9:30 minutes per mile, that's about 212,800 minutes or 3,600 hours we've been together.  Or 147 days.  Or 12.25 months.  Or, put another way, over a year. A year of "together-time" on the trails and roads around Fort Worth.

It's not about the miles.  It is about time and about conversations.  Since we run at a conversational pace, we talk.  Always talk.  About life.

Over the years we have talked about births and deaths.  Hiring and firing.  Sadness and gladness.  Trips.  Children.  Wives.  Aging.  Schools.  Deployment.  New York and California.  Texas and Massachusetts.  The Yankees and the Rangers.  Basketball.  Football.  Lots of football.  Falcons and Trojans and Barons and Keydets and Bison.

By the way, he is not Derek Jeter.

He's my friend.

The Harrow Speech

Not less we praise in darker days
The leader of our nation,
And Churchill's name shall win acclaim
From each new generation.
For you have power in danger's hour
Our freedom to defend, Sir!
Though long the fight we know that right
Will triumph in the end, Sir!

Many of you know that I am very fond of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

One of Churchill's greatest speeches was delivered at Harrow School on October 29, 1941.  Harrow, Churchill's alma mater, is an English boarding school founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I.  He had been invited back to sing the old songs of his youth as well as address the boys.

The historical context is important.

The Second World War raged in October 1941.  These were some of the darkest days in British history.  Hitler's armies occupied western Europe, Scandinavia, much of the Balkans and North Africa, and the invasion of the Soviet Union had commenced the previous June. Though the United States was providing vast amounts of war materiel through the Lend-Lease program,  D-Day was still almost three years away.

To many Britons it seemed that the world would soon come to an end.  It's very difficult for us today to comprehend or appreciate how desperate it seemed.

Yet through it all, with a spirit of profound optimism, Churchill spoke to the boys of Harrow.  He uttered words that will always be remembered:

"Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race."

For those who wish to listen to the speech, we are fortunate to have it.  I feel certain it will inspire you as it has me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydi_KGXA9lk