Essentials

Comings&Goings

   Lake Street Dive

Several weeks ago Amy and I had the good fortune of journeying into NYC to enjoy a Lake Street Dive concert, tickets courtesy of Abby, at the Beacon theater on the upper west side.  For whatever reason, Amy and I often talk about going to concerts and then we don’t. Lake Street Dive’s performance, especially lead singer Rachel Price’s vocals, energized the audience and inspired us to keep an eye on local music options.  Sitting in the second to last row of the balcony, we also could not help laughing throughout as we listened to the ongoing and heartfelt narrative of a woman, in the very last row behind us, exclaiming declaratively “Oh, my God. Oh, myy God. Rachel’s voice is just so transcendent.  Oh, my God.”  For the band’s encore, they performed an electrifying rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

While on the topic of music, I continue to believe that the think tank behind the emergence of Pandora as a music source had people like me in mind.  I have always liked and enjoyed music and probably followed Southern rock more than any other genre growing up, but rarely did I take the time to investigate seriously and follow many bands or purchase L.P.’s like many of my friends did.  With the advent of Pandora, of course, that has all changed as I settle into the genre of Florence & The Machine, Adele or Miner and stay current in my listening. Recently, I have taken to the magnetic voice of Maggie Rogers, having watched her perform on SNL.  She seems like a promising up and comer to me.

   Time for Museums

With some time on our hands the morning following the concert, we ventured to El Museo Del Barrio on the upper east side to view several photography exhibits.  One in particular entitled “Down These Mean Streets” featured urban photographers focusing on community and place during the 60’s and 70’s. Even in the starkness of some crumbling neighborhood environs, these photos revealed the power of community in the various portraits.

Along the way, I also learned that a lenticular image, shifts as the viewer moves his or her angle for viewing the image.  The photograph below is just one image, but I am standing at different angles.

As good fortune would have it, Amy and I learned that our tickets would gain us free admission to The Museum of the City of New York (a place that I had never even heard of), only one block away and featuring a number of provocative exhibits, including a series of stunning Stanley Kubrick photographs and a contemporary show illuminating the “Interior lives of Chinese New Yorkers.”  Both exhibits are excellent as was the short, must see movie that explores the historical landscapes of Manhattan, beginning with the arrival of the Dutch. Among other characteristics, the movie captures the very ethos of the city’s relentless energy and vitality.

Leadbetter’s Essentials

During the summer months and into the fall, I became a David Leadbetter convert and, in particular, have taken to studying his golf video series entitled “Leadbetter’s Essentials,” both to help me better coach the Westminster girls’ golf team and perhaps to stumble upon the secret for my own ongoing and elusive swing.  Leadbetter is known as one of the world’s preeminent golf instructors, having worked with the likes of Tiger, Rory, Phil and many others during his career. His “essentials” video series distills the golf swing into  6 short videos. For this viewer, his instruction has led me to a place where I  truly understand both the physics and the kinesthetic movements that form the foundation for an effective swing.  Putting all of that into practice, at least for this golfer, may be a different story.

A number of blog readers at this point may have rightly sped onward with their perusing for fear that I plan to analyze my swing strategy for each of the various clubs in my golf bag, but I will spare you that narrative until we next meet.  Instead, the concept of essentials has provoked me to think about how with time and experience we all thoughtfully and strategically develop and distill our own essentials for all that we do. Grilling essentials, career essentials, first aide essentials, travel essentials, communication essentials, beauty essentials, gardening essentials, relationship essentials, fitness essentials, writing essentials, auto essentials, counseling essentials, turkey essentials….you get the idea.  And imagine what would happen if we all pooled our own essentials and shared them with one another. Time + Experience = Essentials, a potentially inexhaustive guide for just about everything.

Abula vulpes

Strategically, I have not wanted to “overschedule” myself during this sabbatical year even though most days I feel that I am the most busy person around on sabbatical.  This flexibility approach recently yielded a last minute invitation to join a group of fisherman for 4 days of bonefishing in the Bahamas. Bonefishing Essentials?  It was a wonderful trip, replete with exciting fishing moments, entertaining banter and stories, and plenty of 50 something camaraderie. Two facets of the adventure which stand out include spending several days with Percy, a wizened and instructional guide who had fished the lovely Bahamian waters for over fifty years.  Similar to an effective teacher, he challenged us, taught us, criticized us, encouraged us, and ultimately stewarded us as fishing disciples in his watery home.

The other memory that stands out occurred one sunny and cloudless afternoon when alone I waded a sand flat and witnessed the amazing sights, sounds, and mysteries of an oceanic ecosystem.  Over the course of almost 3 hours and following a falling tide, I tracked bonefish who emerged from the mangroves and frantically searched for deeper waters while moving across the flats in water less than 2 feet, schooling up to form V patterns and creating their own current or “nervous” water.  Sometimes the fish traveled in smaller and more stealthy pods of two and three fish. The bonefish were often followed by slow, lazy moving Lemon Sharks who reminded me that nature’s ominous forces are never far behind. At one point, I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of splashing, gurgling water, chanting birds, and the steady rhythmic slap of the tide.  The coalescence of these sensory experiences was beautiful, other worldly, and calming.  Periodically, too the sounds of nature were pierced by the screeching of my reel.

According to Amy, Nick, Abby, and Will

Nick is really enjoying Scott Harrison’s Thirst:  A story of redemption, compassion, and a mission to bring clean water to the world.  Based upon his early reviews, I plan to add this book to my reading list.  Amy has shifted slightly towards and easy Thanksgiving read, and is “gobbling” up Lee Child’s Past Tense.  At the suggestion of a neighbor, I have just begun reading Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo’s first non-fiction book, entitled The Destiny Thief.  Already I am loving his style and the pace of his reflections.

Worth the Read, View, and Listen

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am finding that podcasts focused on human interest stories are a nice way to compliment time in the car or in the fitness room.  The New York Time’s “Daily” is outstanding.  One podcast, “The Business of Internet Outrage” focused on a couple who started a business editing news articles to make the headlines more inflammatory.  The result:  Millions of people began reading them, and the writers made a handsome living.  Worth a listen.

Articles of interest

Stop Trying to Master One Skill

Swing Doctors? Top L.G.P.A. Players Prefer to Heal Themselves

How Plato Foresaw Facebook’s Folly

Frank Litsky:  A Times Sports Writer of Humor and Breadth

And Finally

I thought you might enjoy what confronted Will when he awakened on Tuesday morning, following his red eye flight from San Francisco.  Welcome to the wild kingdom of home.  A close friend also shared this short piece on being thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.