Framing the day? Even a half day is sometimes too much to put into words.
The honey locusts seem so bright yellow this fall. Extra bright. I wonder how much the cold dry winter had to do with this. I don’t remember last year. I ask people in the shuttle. Some have not noticed. Some do not know locusts. Some wonder with me as well.
Some predict a colder winter than last. My hope is that we read into the success of the Farmer’s Almanac what we wish to read. They may well be as wrong as the local weather person.
After the morning rush - and there was a rush - I met Mark again. We had had a lovely ride up to Glendale a month ago.
“You know that book about engagement and energy you mentioned?" he asked, as soon as we got into the van.
“Yes.” I said. “One of my favorites."
“It really clicked with me right now. So I’m reading it.” he said. “It’s great.”
“I’m glad you think so. I refer to it all the time in the shuttle and have just now taken it out from the library again to refresh myself. As a matter of fact, his ‘other’ book, The Power of Story, is even better. It’s about what we tell ourselves and how to upgrade that experience.”
“Really? And … how does he say to do that?”
“Well, the first thing is that a person needs to be aware that he is composed of the stories he has latched onto or has been immersed in. And then begin to examine them to discover their relative truthfulness or functionality. And then begin to rewrite their new story with an ear for improved performance.”
“Write their own story?”
"Yep. Journal. Diary. Captain’s log. Whatever you call it - write it down."
When we first met we found plenty to talk about and it was only as we were about to pull into his driveway that we spoke of his professional experience. I really thought I had missed out on something wonderful and I had.
He has been in high-tech start-ups in the energy field. That means fuel cells, hyper-conductivity, separating hydrogen and oxygen, membranes, molecules, pure water … on and on. He’s been ahead of the curve in several instances and sees that we are needing to think outside the fracking box and the sooner the better.
I said I continue to see great things coming from young scientists inventing new technologies and simply hope that we see how to wrest ourselves free from the fossil fuel dominance. He said he also saw hope in the young as evidenced by the interests and behaviors of his nieces and nephews as they grapple with the fast-arriving future.
We touched on several topics that could easily whisk us off in other directions Here's another guy I’d like to have a soup and sandwich with. Hmmm … he gave me his card.
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My first group of 4 people out in the morning had all ridden with me before and one of them said she was glad it was me again. They all chimed in. Almost embarrassing. Almost.
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My last customer was the festival choir director at Hales Corners Lutheran Church. Some of the folks from our church sing with their choir. My wife sings with them. He told me to say hello to her. I’ve seen him direct and run a half dozen rehearsals. It’s uplifting to watch him work. I asked him about his music selection process. How does he decide what to do next? It gets simpler when you cut the off-message offerings. Yes, he can hear music in his head by reading the sheet music.
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Finally, if it had not been for the laborious transaction slogging along in front of me at the Parts Counter at Andrew Toyota I probably would have broken my record of miles driven in a 5.5 hour shift. As it was I hit 135.0 miles at 1 pm exactly on the freeway ramp at Silver Spring southbound. Two miles short of the record. A new second place record by 3 miles. The average miles-per-morning-shift is about 83. I worked an extra hour and ten minutes this day and finished at 162.9 miles. The only other time I drove more on the job in one day was last New Year’s Eve: 187 in 12 hours.
Today was a big day.
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*The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time .. by Jim Loehr
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