Encounter With A Grump

At the pool for my daily swim, I found the lanes crowded. So I asked a fellow in the far lane if he would share it with me. Yes, he told me, so I climbed in.

Soon I discovered him using the backstroke to return each time from the far end. That infringed on my side of the lane and, moreover, caused his left arm to hit me several times.

This uncomfortable situation moved me to protest to the man. When I did so, he turned toward me in the water and said: “You are a grumpy old man.”

Never before had I received such an age-based accusation. When I later saw the man in the locker room, I protested that I had been the target of discrimination. He replied: “Well, you deserved it,” and then walked off. A moment later, he returned and told me: “I take back the age part.”

The moral of this anecdote?  You decide.

Aging/Spirituality Annotated Reading List

Bianchi, Eugene, Aging As A Spiritual Journey, New York: Crossroads, 1986 — a stimulating discussion of ways in which contemplation and active involvement in the world can be combined, starting in middle age.

Blythe, Ronald, The View in Winter : Reflections on Old Age, New York: Penguin,1979 — a British classic, full of sharp insights about the place of older people in society, and enlivened by conversation with many of them.

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Updike

Only once do I remember meeting John Updike. It happened at a party on the North Shore, hosted by another man of letters and featuring a crowd of other folks interested in the literary world.

On that occasion, I was impressed not only by Updike’s finely-shaped and prominent nose, but by his geniality and the pleasure he took in conversation. What his editors and other colleagues are writing about him after his death makes me regret not having been otherwise acquainted.

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Speaking of, and to, Technology

This column comes to you not from a typewritten copy, but from dictation. I have spoken these words into a microphone attached to a headset. The device takes my spoken words and puts them on my computer screen.

Thanks to Dragon Naturally Speaking, a software program that picks up my speech, I no longer have to typewrite words such as you are now reading. This process continues to amaze me, since it does what I used to think impossible.

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Inauguration

It counts as an event worth having lived long for. Barack Obama’s  inauguration came as the fulfillment of so many hopes and dreams. This day was a long time coming. For me, it brought deep-down joy.

I watched the events of last week’s Tuesday in a large room mostly filled with college students. They impressed me with the seriousness they showed during the proceedings. They applauded a few times but for the most part they greeted the events with silent attention, while obviously feeling joyful at Obama becoming president.

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La Rondine on the Big Screen

Love birds on the operatic stage and in real life, the two stars appeared on the huge screen singing their hearts out. Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, in high definition, seemed to relish playing in Puccini’s opera La Rondine. The audience of over 300 clearly enjoyed watching them perform in this simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

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Bacevich’s Five Lessons

The United States lacks the power to transform the Greater Middle East.

Almost one-and-a half billion Muslims live in many countries ─ north, south, east, and west ─ within the huge area stretching from Iraq to Pakistan. Expecting to reshape these nations is thoroughly unrealistic.

This is the first of five lessons that Andrew Bacevich imagines sharing with Barack Obama as the latter assumes the presidency next week. He judges it vital for the new president to lead the way in breaking with the myths that, since 9/11, have been shaping U.S. foreign policy.

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