These are some of the lessons learned this week while traveling. The list is as I remember them.
Rehearsals of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood still enthrall young and old. Some young girls and women still dress better, even casually, than guys.
Class differences exist, but do not necessarily determine any person’s life choices. Determination depends on what you put in your intellectual and skill toolbox, not necessarily how or where you’re born. Extreme wealth (you know these people from news reports, movies, and TV), professionals, tradespeople, hangers-on, tourists, et al., live next to each other here. A town clerk told a newcomer, “We all get along here. We all have the same rights. We’re the same here. (silence) Well, not really.”
Poor boys with curiosity and drive can eventually contribute at a world class level: A “Stop me if I told you this one” picnic in memory of Uncle Merlin drew over 60 immediate family members and friends together to witness his six children distribute ashes of his body on the farm. UM was a delightful story teller, drawing on his growing up as the youngest of 9 children (his mom baked 9 to 12 pies each Saturday depending on how many people she and her minister husband expected for Sunday dinner after worship), decades of public service with the Peace Corp (set up USPHS centers worldwide for volunteers);,World Health Organization (Administrator for treatment of yaws, starvation diseases of children, VD in Central and SA); missionary to Nigeria, international tropical disease specialist, including Hansen’s Disease. A wonderful gathering of four generations of people from several months old to middle 90 years, including farmers, scientists, intelligence officer, healthcare workers, military, students, student-teachers, retired old guys, and more.
Lancaster County, PA still demonstrates ways to live simple, plain lives amid turmoil and complications other people choose.
Competition in photography and photojournalism continues to increase, and it takes clever persistence, a certain undefined gift plus luck (prepared to take advantage of an unexpected break or opening) to survive. A major company photo editor (you’ve likely seen at least one of his photos in a newspaper or popular magazine) was silent when asked what school and teachers contributed to his career. Then he said, “I didn’t attend school. I just went.” When asked what he wanted them to contribute when he was in school, he responded, “Stay out of my way.” When asked why he’s a photographer, he said, “I knew immediately when looking through a SLR 35mm camera view finder that I wanted to take pictures. Something clicked. When asked how he knew he could be a photojournalist, he showed me the picture taken at age 21 (hangs on the wall with a pin in his darkroom) that demonstrated his confidence. “When I saw this scene on the beach, I knew what was going to happen, aimed my camera, and waited for it to happen, and then snapped the image … I don’t know how I knew, I just knew … No one can teach that. Some people have it, others don’t.” It took him 40+ years of extraordinary, persistent effort around the world to receive an invitation for his current position. His brother, a dairy husbandryman, said that’s like in his business, “Some can tell somehow what an animal will do. You just know; can’t explain it. Others never get a clue, even with the same or more schooling.”
A few (they’re rare) race car mechanics still exist who work alone in small private shops with common tools many people have in house garages, and they can fabricate parts from raw stock and rebuild the exotic machines in car collections as well as for museums and vintage races. John had 9 such crowded into his shop that he’s rebuilding.
Lime Rock Race Track still draws 40-50,000 fans for a day’s racing. The roar of the race engines’ exhaust at full tthrotle carry more than five miles. Beautiful!
Even former U.S. embassy intelligence officers have difficulty publishing manuscripts.
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia continues using the case method for instruction.
A major big-box store created an unprecedented position for someone they wanted to hire in headquarters.
A local garbage transfer station allows users to take three books from its shelves a month. Many people throw away book collections. The station manager puts books on shelves in a shed for others to read. I took Dear Bess, David Halberstam’s last book and a Larry McMurtry novel. Good reading for a few days, when I can get to them before others in the house do.
Life outside the big city continues about the same. Many, that’s an understatement, individuals create and operate independent small businesses to support their way of life that includes music, art, religion, community emergency services, etc. sometimes at world class levels, other times at subsistance levels.
What a great week of learning.