Sunday, October 19, 2014

Mischief and Regrets

Rules were not a concern to Bill.  He was unconventional.

Letter to Noel c1980 from Al Kobar, Saudi Arabia.  He was reflecting back on family trip to Japan in the early 1970's.   Probably not a model influence on kids.
Do you remember we went to a Japanese temple with a sand garden?  There were a few black rocks in the middle of a sand pit.  The pit was in the interior of a temple.  The pit was about 20 ft by 25 ft.  The idea was that the sand was raked into a pattern around the rocks and the pilgrims would sit and meditate.  A great thought.  But being particularly dumb it never occurred to me that if you could sit and meditate about a sand pattern, then you should be able to sit and meditate about any sand pattern, after all the given pattern would look different from different positions around the pit so everyone would see a different pattern, then different patterns didn’t make a difference to the meditation.  Do you follow?  Well you think about it.  Since that is the truth, then we should have walked across the sand and made our own patterns.  The four of us (Mom wouldn’t have) should have run amuck in the sand box for a minute.   That is all that was necessary, then come out and looked like we were meditating. That would have been interesting to see the reaction.  If it really was the idea of meditating then no one would have minded.  But you know as well as I that probably the folks that ran the temple had some pretty clear ideas of who should make up the patterns for others to meditate on.  And there would have been the bystanders that would have been scandalized by our behavior in the temple.  Your mother would have been embarrassed but would have enjoyed it later.  It is a bit like ringing bells in strange places.   I really regret not having messed up the pattern to see what would have happened and so that you kids would have had something to brag about in Japan.  Well if we ever get a chance let’s do it right next time.
Of course, there were times when Bill's disregard for rules were beneficial.  On our requisite day to visit the great pyramids of Egypt -- no way did we want to do the regular touristy scene.  We headed out at crack of dawn before for hordes of tourists and hawkers were even out of bed.  Bill befriended the guard while we climbed the pyramids.

Noel on top of great pyramid -- notice the graffiti

Look closely - Noel on top of pyramid

Bill befriending the guard - bakshish might have changed hands 
Every once in a while, Bill would regret some of the silly things he did.  Another email to Noel from Saudi Arabia.
I did a dumb thing.  We had an ELC party with the motif of a White Elephant auction sale.  I had to take something to be auctioned.  It was necessary as admission to the party. So I took your mother’s tennis racket thinking that I would bid on it and buy it back.  Well the auctioneer either went by it while I was talking or he auctioned it of along with a box of balls.  I did not bid on it and lost it. Therefore I had to buy a new racket at $45. That is just too much to pay for a party.  I said it was dumb and it was.

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