So a few yeas ago, my dad was given access to a loge at the stadium, which means after decades of sitting outside, we now watch games from the relative comfort of a crow's nest. And let me tell you, people, it's interesting to watch football from that perspective. When you're sitting in the clouds, you can watch everything unfold, and mostly--even when plays break up and coverages are blown--you're still struck by the precision and the plan of it all.
Last week in Oregon we sat on a second row bleacher where you mostly have a view of a) the guy's head in front of you, b) the cheerleaders, and c) an occasional shot of players' beefy butts and thighs. What strikes you from the second row is how chaotic it all looks. No precision. Just scrambling and grunting and fumbling.
And for some reason this morning, I thought how much aging is like sitting in a loge. You have this broader view about the stuff that's happened. You've seen a lot and you've detached a little, and therefore you can spot patterns, right? On the other hand, when you're in the middle of a thing--a financial crisis, a problem with a child, whatever--it's a lot like sitting on the second row. It all feels like chaos.
I have no idea why I wrote all that just now.
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11 comments:
You wrote it, because it's a fine metaphor and it's true.
I agree with Louise. Btw, I'm currently on the second row, buckled into one of those bleacher booster chair things.
I have an idea.
20-something year olds are on the 2nd row right? I mean it's not bad that I feel like the 2nd row beefy-butt-thighs view is all I get....right?
Probably because someone like me needed to read it. xx
Not only is it a fine metaphor, but you got to write the alliterative "beefy butts". How cool is that? This is actually a very interesting post. It shows (quite perspicaciously, might I add) the importance of perspective on ones life. Loge sitting is very nice, especially when its cold, but its not always as exciting or exhilirating as second seating.
This has nothing to do with the post at hand, but I saw these on the website etsy, and I immediately thought of you. Bacon+ peanut brittle:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79867439/bacon-peanut-brittle?ref=storque
I love the long view. I crave it and occasionally find it. But there's something to be said for the second row, too - the crush of it and the chaos can be kind of exciting. For a few plays, anyway.
I agree, both views are helpful, but the second row is so intense....I don't like hearing the helmets crash...I used to. I like the perspective from high up....you can still be very involved, but not as frenetic...perspective is what I have lacked. I worry so much about the crashing of the helmets that I miss the precision of a plan. The plan Father has that I just can't see from the second row. Thank you Ann for this....
In my youth I was invited to a few football games high up behind the glass. We sat 'Behind the Glass' and looked out laughing at those poor suckers down in the cold. We ate lots of free food. We were in the Great and Spacious Building....chatting, eating, boasting
...and we missed the whole game.
I wish I had thought of perspective and the long game, and patterns, and aging.
true that.
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