Washington, D.C.

Posted 08:00 PST Mon Jan 14, 2008 in Travel

Bleh. It’s 0715 as I write this local time, but that’s 0415 my time. I’ve been up for an hour, working on my presentation for this afternoon. It is too-damned-early-in-the-morning…

I finished my presentation about midnight last night (time change got me), fell into bed, and turned on the television for a few minutes of mind-numbing. An old MASH rerun was on and it caught my attention. For a comedy, it had it’s moments of serious thought. That was one of the things I loved about the show. Sherman Potter was on a tear, returning from a quick trip to Tokyo in a very bad mood. Of course, the crew thought the worst and expected Col. Potter had received terrible personal news.

What had happened is that the last of his WWI buddies (the group, including Potter, numbered five) died in Tokyo, leaving Potter as the sole survivor of their band of brothers. The dawning awareness of his own mortality, and truly that of us all, was a shock to Col. Potter. As a “prize,” the group shared a single bottle of fine old brandy liberated from a French chateau in WWI. The bottle was to be opened by the last survivor of the group and a toast drunk to them all.

Col. Potter shared his brandy with the MASH crew. It was a time of remembering. The scene worked for me, as I’ve seen that demon up close and personal. My own mortality is evident. I’m not old, but old enough to know that more of my life is behind me than before me. That is OK, because it is the way of things and I know I don’t want to live forever. But, it left me thinking that I want to leave a legacy to those I care for, and have cared for. I would like them to remember me for something I gave them.

No, not something material, but something emotional, intellectual, or spiritual. I hope my friends, students, and family carry something away with them from me that makes their lives better somehow. That would be the legacy I would leave for them. I hope I’ve done that. I can’t know, but it is my prayer.

It strikes me as odd how a television program, and a comedy of all things, can incite such thoughts and feelings. I went to sleep thinking about them.

So, I’m here in D.C. for a meeting. My presentation is prepared and saved in Keynote, PowerPoint, and PDF formats. I’ll dump a copy of it on my flashdrive for the session this afternoon. I’ll get into the shower momentarily, then meet a friend and colleague for breakfast and a work session. I have the formal presentation this afternoon and a couple of committee meetings this week, then return home Thursday. I’m looking forward to a good week.