The Hildy Johnson Effect
Perhaps I was having at drink at Pancho’s and heard the sonic boom when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier?
Or maybe I was standing on the sidelines when Burt Munro rode his Indian motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats?
Or was I working on the same floor as Hildy Johnson and eavesdropped on her quick-witted quips?
Or was I a script supervisor when Eleanor Powell danced with Buttons the dog?
The Turbo Boost Effect
With certainty I flew the purple and orange missions with Apollo and Starbuck.
Truthfully, to this day I use the expression “turbo boost” and my cellphone ring tone is the theme song from Knight Rider.
Always wanted to work for the Phoenix Foundation and learn all the snazzy chewing gum wrapper tricks from the one and only fast-thinking genius Angus MacGyver.
Happy to report I was there, in the movie theater, watching the DeLorean hit 88 mph for the very first time, and that was some seriously cool shit!
The John Bauer Effect
I walked in a dense spruce forest after rain. I held my breath and listened to the presence of trees and moss and water. Soft, quiet, slow. Time is measured different here.
I read books with beautiful pictures that I studied thoroughly. Memorized even. Built stories within stories based on the illustrations, and expanded on the original story. Time was placed inside a parenthesis.
I looked into the crackling fireplace. I studied the burning birch logs. The coloration of the flames. The lovely scent of the apple roasting on a stick. Time was inside that apple, inside the seed, and it was not in a hurry anywhere.
What I was going to say:
One of the most beautiful things in life is to experience a day without rushing. Speak just a little slower. Move just a little more gingerly. Think a thought through before moving on to the next. Build something with your hands.
What I really was going to say:
It’s super annoying when people talk too fast, and steamroll forward like a rapid train without brakes. There I sit on the tracks with all thoughts scattered like seagulls in the wind.
This reflection is my submission for the monthly Symposium of the Soaring Twenties Social Club. This month’s theme is “Speed.”
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