Monday, March 08, 2010

Returning to a Simpler Time

My father & I were sitting around his kitchen table the other day discussing a little bit of this & a little bit of that and really nothing of any great importance. Just the kind of talk I like having with my Dad when I haven’t seen him in a while. We laughed. We joked. We remembered. My 4 ½ year old son sat there between us plowing through his red pepper slices & his bag of apple slices with a touch of lemon so they wouldn’t brown. His eyes shifted back & forth between us as he watched & listened. I hope that some day I have those same kinds of talks with him.

While we were talking, the subject of the local college basketball team came up. They were better this year than they had been in some time and while they obviously aren’t going to make the “Big Dance” there is an outside shot that they might get an invite to the NIT. They won the NIT in 1975 back when it still mattered and wasn’t the also ran hoopfest that it is today. We remembered how we had been on vacation on a tropical island at the time and that it took a couple of days to get a score for a game. Al Gore had inspired “Love Story” by then but he hadn’t yet invented the internet. Getting world or local news wasn’t as easy as a point & a click. I truly think that the waiting & the anticipation made both the victories sweeter & the defeats more painful. In some ways, you just didn’t want to know and you just didn’t need to know right then. The world wasn’t going to end or even be somewhat more dramatically different if it took a little longer to find something out.

I mention all this because I am headed out on a vacation with my own family to a tropical island. Only it’s not 1975 anymore, it’s 2010 and with that comes all of the gadgetry and need to know now technology of our modern day world. I am truly excited that I am actually going to get to watch LOST via satellite on the plane as I fly over the Pacific. (I checked, my flight number is not 815 or 316 – bummer) However when I get to our final destination I have decided (with the help of – okay threat from – my wife) to return to that simpler time. My blackberry is going into the safe in our room. It’s not going to be turned on. Work will survive without me. There are plenty of people back in the office who are completely capable of handling my job for the 9 days that I am gone. The world will not come to an end.

Tomorrow I am getting on a plane with my wife & 3 kids. I’ll check back in when I get back. I am sure we will have some stories to share about a little bit of this & a little bit of that and really nothing of great importance but they can wait. The stories may not get any better with age but you will still be able to drink them in.

And that is the view for now from Behind The Shades…swampy abides...aloha

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i like the mystery about where you are going! don't we all want to get away from this world? i'm mean the economy, the middle east, twilight. yes, i donot have any love for the twilight series. i like Harry Potter. anyways, it's always nice to fantasize about getting away from the mainland. then actually getting to do it! Mahalo.
- Anonymous

swampy said...

I think you will find out where I am going when we get to the airport if my BB hasn't already been confiscated by the No Fun Police. Of course, things didn't work out so well for Harry Potter when he went to a small mysterious island with Dumbledore...

sugarfreeNJ said...

have a safe and fun time with your family!! Make the most of family time while you can.The world will still be here when you get back. Aloha!

swampy said...

Thanks SF - I hope you will save some glitter for me for when I get back

Anonymous said...

There is a lot to be said for simplicity and shutting down the information stream for a while. If you need to know something, you eventually will.

Have a great vacation!!

j said...

Oh my gosh! Nine days. Okay. Psyching myself up. I can do nine days without you. (Ignore my preemptive shakes. I'll be fine.)

Have fun!

Corey said...

Have big fun!!! Make sure that your simpler times include a camera!!