Shovel Leaning

     I read that today is the date of the creation of the Works Progress Administration in 1935.   Notably it is a date just a few weeks past my birth day in April.  So 89 years later, why am I taken by this event?  For one thing, I have benefitted from the good works on infrastructure that it produced.   Improved roads, parks, bridges and other public works was the result.   One can go to state parks and forests and see the handiwork of those employed in those projects.  In the midst of the depression, unemployed people were put to work by the thousands and acted as a backstop to the rampant poverty.   I had a World War II Cornell colleague who benefitted from that program before he went to fight in Europe.  He told me some fascinating stories of his adventures.  It was stop gap employment until he went into the Army after Pearl Harbor.  

    Like all government programs, there was frequent criticism of make work programs.  Some are quite critical of those employed in these programs as a give away for the lazy and indigent.  I am not in that camp.  What was the beef about this program?   One that was often heard came from watching a work party on site.   By some appearances, the individuals were not particularly vigorous about their tasks.  Critics would say they spent more time leaning on their shovels than working!  So out of this came the expression "shovel leaning" on the job.   I'll admit that surely there were some slackers.  However, I am confident that for the main, most gave an honest day's work for a day's wage.

    Let me explain my reasoning for my last statement above.   Casual observers who just stop by a site, only see a snapshot of the day.  As a college student I worked construction.   I had a job building the New York State Thruway over the Montezuma swamp.   I helped build a water line in Fairport, New York and an electric utility building in Sodus, New York.  On these jobs, I was doing grunt work!  Many were long days, up to 14 hours on theThruway from sunup to sundown.   If you had observed me in those work days, there would be times I was leaning on my shovel.  Even in the prime of my youth, there is a limit to the length of time you can shovel, lift etc.  Let me close with an anecdote of how cruel a superintendent of a work party can be in preventing "shovel leaning".   On my electric utility job one day I was assigned the task of manually tamping the fill around the duct installed within the foundation.   The tamper probably weighed twenty pounds.   Since I was probably going to be at the task for the entire day.  I was doing it in a rhythm that I knew I could sustain.  My boss from his comfortable hut was observing me.  It wasn't long before he came out of his hut and chastised me for my slow progress.  I guess he thought I was a slacker.  So he grabs the tamper and proceeded to do a few seconds of rapid tamping and said that is the way you should be doing it.  He was a wisp of a man and he really angered me!  He could walk away and sit.   No way could he  have kept that up.  So in conclusion,  I think it behooves every one of us to be careful of our criticism of others in whatever task they are doing.   They say when you are pointing a finger at someone, three other fingers are pointing back at you.

Awareness

     This morning I came across  a post on Facebook about a 1942 Model 12A John Deere Combine used this past fall to harvest some grain.  This antique jogged my memory of a 1950's summer job with a farm equipment dealer.  At the time I was a student of agricultural engineering at Cornell  University.  I proved myself with the veteran mechanics on that job when I was able to field service that particular model of combine and get it working properly when others had been baffled about how to fix it.  So why is it that I can remember the name of my employer from fifty years ago,  but have a huge deficiency in remembering names in other contexts.   To be honest, I have always had a weak spot about remembering names. That leads me to pondering about being aware of our weaknesses and whether we will do something about that weakness.   In the past I did try some things to improve my deficiency with a set of audio tapes.  

    Continuing with another thought I would like to comment about awareness--  especially awareness of ones impact on others.   I currently volunteer as a docent at a local museum.  I do like to tell stories about the items of interest in the museum.  However, I try to be sensitive to the reaction of the guests!  I am forthright about that by assuring them I will tell them as much as they are interested in, or simply be available for questions.   Even when they have given me permission to tell some stories, I keenly observe their reactions.  When the eyes glaze over, I know it is time to shut up!

    Further on awareness, I have to share my pet peeve about individuals  who are totally unaware of their annoying behavior.    I wonder if their minds are simply shut down by their egocentric processing of the world around them.   I find it especially annoying in conversations that are not really conversations.  I have encountered at least two of that type in recent weeks.  They will start a thread of a topic and segue from one element to another with no chance for you to make a comment.   That is bad enough, but it gets worse in that the thread of the topic can literally go on for 15 minutes or more.   Both of these persons I encountered are fine citizens and tragically they are alienating a whole community of "friends" by being unaware.  

In closing, I hope that I continue in my senior years to be aware of my own  idiosyncrasies  and to find a way to gently suggest changes for others who are unaware of their annoying behavior.

      

Expressions In Poetry

     A few days ago I was reminded that April is designated by the Poetry Foundation as National Poetry Month.   There are all kinds of poetry styles.   I particularly like writing Haiku.  The poems are three lines with  of 17 syllables.  The form is five, seven, five for the three lines.  I appeals to me in simplicity and my engineering side.  Hear are some thoughts in poetry as I transition in the glories of spring and summer.

April Poetry Month

Haikus

Life rhythms abide

In spite of day light saving

Time to abolish?

Positive thinking

Season pass purchase now

Geezer optimist.

E-bike riding now

Glorious activity

Spring bloom were observed

Museum gig calls

Volunteering my wisdom?

Captive audience

A final thought!   In my freshman year of college my writing skills were so bad that I had to take a remedial class in writing.   I daily thank the astute teachers that recognized my need.   That learning has enhanced my whole career as an academic where publish or perish has been so evident.   Maybe, I should get some remedial lessons in skiing before it is too late.  

Prime Time

     Just had a birthday!   Almost finishing nine decades.   One more year to go.  My son reminds me of every time my age is a prime number.   Yes, the 89th is prime.  Therefore, I can say I am in my prime!  Too bad that is not so.  However, I am blessed enough to be active both mentally and physically.   However, there is a significant difference in my physical activity versus my son's activity at 65.   On the 9th of April, he climbed Mt. Baldy at Alta Utah to ski some pristine snow.  His birthday call yesterday filled me in on his adventure.  As an avid skier myself, I get vicarious pleasure from his adventures!  From the time he was nine, he was the pace setter for our family skiers!  I think he continues to do that today with his companions on the great slopes of Utah, British Columbia and so on.   We agreed during his call that we both have been blessed with great time of skiing, both solo and with groups of friends.  I will not be around to see it, but I expect him to be one of those people that will be ripping up the slopes well into his nineties.  Perhaps he will be part of the Wild Old Bunch in Utah.  

   Meanwhile,  I hope to be celebrating my 90th birthday on the slopes at Greek Peak in 2025.   Since it is not likely the Peak will be open on April 11th, I may have to prematurely celebrate in March.   It would be nice to be able to hang around in enough good health to ski at my next prime time birthday of 97!  However, the probabilities are pretty low.   But as a friend at the museum where I volunteer who is just a few day younger than me,  reminded me that is good to aspire to better things.  Would you believe his sights are on 100.   So be it.  L'Chaim.

Old Endeavors

    Since my ski season got cut short for me this year, I have been pursuing new endeavors.   Just finished trying to revive what little piano playing ability I developed when I retired in 1996.  I took lessons for five years starting at age 61. I must report that my daughter  Victoria age 11 was taking lessons from the same teacher.   What took me a month to accomplish, she mastered in a week!  

    Here I am now, trying to recapture some of the ability I had so many years ago.  Unfortunately, I discover that the process of refreshing is going very slowly.    However, I can amuse myself with simple melodies, even if I can't fill in the base line.  Maybe this is all a metaphor for my skiing abilities in my more senior years.   Go for the simpler terrain and simply take pleasure in sweeping turns that can be considered as a simple ballet on snow.

    I  will continue to seek other old endeavors too.  If you have been a reader of my blog over some time, you will notice the frequency of posting new blogs has increased in the last few weeks.  Therefore I hope to come up for more tiny vignettes for my own entertainment, if not for my readers.

As we move into summer, I am looking forward to returning to the tennis court!  That is not an old endeavor for me, because I have been playing tennis every year after I started banging a ball against the barn on a the farm I grew up.  I was 12 when a neighbor gave me a beat up wooden racket.  I guess an activity that you have engaged in for over 76 years qualifies as an old endeavor in a different way.   Finally, my old endeavor of skiing started in my thirties.  Hats off to those who were able to start much earlier!

Skiing Egos

    Today's Senior Skiing newsletter had an article about ego related to skiing.   It seems that as we age into the 70's, 80's and even 90's, our ego can drive us to take chances on the slopes beyond our current conditioning and skill set.   We have imbedded in our psyche the belief we should be able to master bumps, sketchy conditions, trees, etc. like we could in our younger days.   Not so! To keep enjoying the sport we love, it is best that we know when to limit our adventures.  Really, we should not have to prove ourselves to others or ourself!

    In my 88th year, I have daily reminded myself about the above admonition.  I have learned to delight in just being on the slopes.  I have learned to enjoy what I can do, and not long for the more adventurous challenges of the steeps.   Skiing can be an enjoyable ballet on the gentler slopes.   Graceful complete turns can be most satisfying.  Also in the past, whatever the hill conditions might be, I have had pride in toughing it out at least for a few runs.  However, now is the time for me to tamp down that desire.  

    My geezer skier friends, I wish you many days of simply being out there and remind you to pause from time to time and view the scene, take a few pictures, have a coffee break with your buddies and perhaps reminisce a little about the good old day.  

   

Anchors

     Recently I ran across a quote from Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts that inspired my thinking about what holds us down in our pursuit of life.   You may think, how does this connect to senior level skiing?  Maybe that will develop as you read on. The quote is as follow.

"It is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that existsin us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them"

    Metaphorically the dead ideas and beliefs are anchors we keep dragging along with us and prevent us form moving forward.  It is always time to shed some anchors and move on to new ideas.  In the area of beliefs, it is a bit more complicated.  If we are on a faith journey we cannot necessarily shed all our beliefs, but we certainly can find new perspectives and insights.  

    So what kind of anchors do I have to shed as I adjust to my skiing activities in my more senior years?   A new reality is that in spite of my attention to conditioning and healthy living, I am not as expert on the slopes as I used to be.  Thus I will have to shed the idea I can shred the slopes as if I was a teenager.  I will learn to savor what I can do on the slopes and focus on what I can do rather than what I no longer can do.  Perhaps I will also have to shed the belief I can conquer challenging slope conditions is always the goal. Beyond my skiing obsession, I am thankful that I can look forward to other endeavors.

    In conclusion, to you readers, I hope I have given you some stimulus for reflection on any anchors you may be dragging along and figure out how to shed them.