Memories - Of Perfect Moments

There are just a few "perfect moments" that I can recall from my 61 years on this planet:

#1

In the mid-south, at my grandfather's farmhouse, there were three screened-in porches (it was a grand old house..) - and as wee kids, the grandchildren would sit on those porches - in old rocking chairs, drinking a Coke, or Dr. Pepper - watching the massive thunderheads rolling across the sky - bringing the rain that the fields much needed. Listening to the rain fall on the metal roofing...watching nature in her majesty...catching a moment of "neutral". 

#2

Standing in the backyard of my house in Little Rock, Arkansas...raking leaves...with my girlfriend helping me. It was a moment of perfect happiness and bliss. 

#3

1980...after jumping out of a plane during my time at the Ft. Bragg Jump School (US Army) - on an autumn day...I was, for a moment, able to relax and enjoy the tranquility of floating through the air...

#4

1982...Pine Bluff, Arkansas...competing in a Karate tournament...I had just started the first opening movement of the advanced Shotokan kata "Kwanku Dai" - when the blaring sound of a klaxon bell sounded.  Internally...my concentration was momentarily disrupted...but externally I continued the movement. As I progressed through the kata...I reached a moment of executing a particular technique that was not difficult/unusual...but in that moment...my body performed the technique flawlessly/perfectly. I knew a moment of perfection. It was a distinct as night and day to me.

#5

2007...Mazatlan, Mexico...as I was maneuvering my sailboat to exit the harbor...via the long channel entrance..I was greeted by some rather large swells lifting and dropping my bow. As my vessel fell off the back of one of the swells...droplets of water hung suspended in the air...and noticing them intensely...I experienced a moment of profound stillness/perfection.

 
A magical time - and the memories of those moments - echo still through time...many decades later.

Perhaps this clip comes closest to the feeling and memory of those moments, lost so long ago...

 

Little Acts - Echoing Through The Decades

 

[image credit: annawaldl on pixabay.com]

Tonight my mother called me (from her assisted living apartment). 

 

She had been looking at some photos & postcards my sister had brought her.

 

She read the back of a postcard that I had sent in September 2001 - from Warsaw Poland, while on a client assignment. 

 

It was surprising to me - how much that postcard meant to her, now. 

 

Little acts...echoing through decades...

 

The acts that you can do now - you cannot compute the effect, or magnitude, that it will have on others...years, or decades, from now. 

 

Be kind.

Movie: BlackBerry

Opening in theaters May 12th

The true story of the meteoric rise & catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone, BLACKBERRY is a whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds. 

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson 

Director: Matt Johnson 

 

Audio Book Narrator: Scott Brick

 

[image source: Amazon.com]

I recently picked-up an audio/CD book at a local Goodwill Thrift Store ("The Bourne Legacy", by Eric Van Lustbader)

 

The narration was done by Scott Brick. 

 

Many times - I have bought an audio book - and been severely disappointed in the narration. 

 

Not so with this book - and narrator.

 

He is *exceptionally* good.

 

Here are the books (on Amazon) that he has narrated:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Scott+Brick&i=audible&fbclid=IwAR360ZoaVA7EDD-QW2xOzXTBb3Iu3-ihf0mfj7Dlii68zIs3SaEZx71nMmg&ref=dp_byline_sr_audible_2

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Brick

"He opened his own audiobook recording studio and publishing company, Brick By Brick Audiobooks, with the goals of streamlining production and ensuring consistency throughout his body of work. (Taking a note from DVDs, many of Brick By Brick's titles also include extra features, such as interviews and illustrations.) On May 16, 2008, Brick By Brick Audiobooks released its first title: Lord Foul's Bane, from Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. By April 4, 2009, Brick had narrated and released the other two titles in the initial trilogy (The Illearth War and The Power That Preserves), along with Fatal Revenant, the eighth book in the series. When completed, this debut project will result in new unabridged audio narrations of all 10 titles of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. The first trilogy, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, was released in print from 1977 to 1979; The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant was released in print from 1980 to 1983; and The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant tetralogy was released in print and audio format from 2004 to 2013."

Word Ponderings: "Whew"

[Image by mordilla-net from Pixabay]

 

 

Today, I had reason to utter the phrase "Whew!" - as an expression of relief  that something bad did not happen.

As the hamsters in my mind are oft wont to do...my curiosity was aroused to seek to better understand this word.

Whew
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whew

• An expressive sound made indicating the release of one's inner tension; the release of breath; an expression of relief.
• An expression of amazement or surprise

• (UK, Scotland, dialect) To whistle with a shrill pipe, like a plover.
• (intransitive, UK, dialect) To bustle about.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whew

• First Known Use: 1513
• often read as  ˈhwü,ˈwü,
• used interjectionally chiefly to express amazement, discomfort, or relief
• a whistling sound or a sound like a half-formed whistle uttered as an exclamation

• used to express surprise, relief, or a feeling of being very hot or tired.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/whew

• a whistling exclamation or sound expressing astonishment, dismay, relief, etc.)

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/whew

• used when you are happy that something difficult or dangerous has finished or is not going to happen:
• used to express surprise, pleasure, or admiration:
• used to show that you are, or a place is, hot and uncomfortable:
• used to show that you feel tired: