And the Teacher Told Me

You all remember the Jethro Tull song "Teacher" from the "Benefit" album in 1970? What's an album you say? Just give me the AARP tattoo and put me in a nursing home. A new feature of the blog is that each post will begin with a quote from a rock song, ala Stephen King, who often starts a chapter in similar fashion. I stopped reading Stephen after "Needful Things". I thought that there were a lot of "Needless Things" in that novel, namely gratuitous gore and violence which did not add to the story line, making the action somewhat contrived. Needless to say, King's book sales suffered once I stopped reading him, and since then he has only sold about 1000 times more books than that cult classic, The Bible. (just kidding about the new feature rot, I may be arrested, taken hostage or transported by Scottie by the next post time, so why worry about that!).


But back to today's theme "Mongoose as Teacher". No, not the Mongoose from Rudyard Kipling's short story "Rikki Tikki Tavi" (1894), or the Donovan song "Riki Tiki Tavi" (1970), but the mongoose that is my bike. Formally Mongoose Rockadile A.L., Al to me, Mongoose for this lesson. Yes,as we have discussed before, there are many teachers in this life: basil plants, aliens from other planets (as opposed to aliens from Mexico), and Mongoose.


If you listen to Dr. George Sheehan, running guru from the 70's and 80's and author of the book "Running and Being", we learn who we are when we run, bike, dance, play basketball, tennis, meditate or anything else that we do for play. Similar to Joseph Campbell's concept of "following your bliss", it is in play and leisure that we learn the real lessons of life. And as I have said many times, to my family's dismay, "sweating brings you closer to God". But enough drivel, on to to the lessons of Mongoose:


1) Quality- We all know what quality is right? If not, or if you are looking for a wild, chaotic, profound ride, please read "Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance" by Robert Piersig. I read that book 2 or 3 times, still not quite sure what it all means. Mongoose has shown me that quality is hitting that 5 mile mark at your best time yet, when the weather is perfect and I am one with the wheels. He has also asked me what it means when I hit that 5 mile mark 2 or 3 minutes late, yet soldier on to the halfway mark, 10 minutes behind. Finishing your ride with a terrible time, feeling slow, yet finishing none the less. Grasshopper, is that also quality?

2) Cause and effect- In this case closely related to accountability, this is the category where we put ourselves in the petrie dish and (please don't turn on the bunson burner!), perform some experiments. So last week I felt great and hit that road at the 20 minute mark. Hmmm, today I hit it at the 24 minute mark, I wonder why? It was those inconsiderate runners who refused to move, or that couple walking their kids (or were they dogs?) on leashes who slowed me down. Oh Matt, Mongoose interjects, let's get real. Yeah yeah it was the 6 beers I had last night, and the fact that I got only six hours sleep. I see the effect and I know the cause. Fate and destiny, and divine intervention occur often in the movies, seldom in life. It is cause and effect people !

3) Self Awareness: In the Nicholus Roeg film "The Last Wave" the leader of the Australian aboriginal tribe, Charlie, would sit on the floor and intone to the other tribe members "who are you, who are you" over and over, his words inducing in them a trance-like state as they entered "the dreamworld". That is the big question for us, and as I bike I come closer to the answer. I may pass someone 20 years younger than me, and as I congratulate myself and proclaim "I'm not dead yet!", a grandpa 15 years my senior flies by, leaving in the dust, snapping me back to humble reality. As Bruce Lee said, man must know his limitations. My only question is "Do I have to have so many?!"

4) Nature/Social acceptance: Mongoose has taught me that no species has more intrinsic, moral or social value than another. So what that I don't seem to fit in with the other bikers on the trail, or that groups of runners shun me as I cheerfully proclaim "Good morning fellow homo sapiens"! No man is an island, and if I need to tap other species and phylums for recreation, conversation and acceptance, so bet it. I have noticed though, that rabbits are so cliquish, and that those friekin squirrels ditched me the other day when they promised they would let me eat (acorns) with them.

5) B.U. - bottom line, according to Mongoose, you just have to be yourself. Find an activity that allows you to do that in the purest way, and do it, as often as possible.

Basil update: Tomato and Parsley are making great strides and towering over my poor basil plants. Hmm, cause and effect in play again. Basils are too far on the shady side of the garden, not experiencing their sun. I will move one and see what happens. If you are not growing sufficiently, time to move closer to your sun. Peace all.

David Carradine, so sad. RIP Grasshopper, one of my earliest teachers.