Greg Potter has the trading desk just to the left of mine. Potter has a window next to his desk and fourteen floors down is a pond that has a line of trees along the edge. A much better view than the one at the Board of Trade trading floor.
Everyday around noon I’ll walk to the window and tell Greg where the shadows are. Yesterday I told him the shadows were sitting directly under the trees. In a few months the shadows will be stretched out towards the edge of the pond.
Potter was born when I was in high school so he sees an old guy with weird quirks. I hope I leave this kid with one memory when our careers go their separate ways. I’d want Greg to have learned an appreciation for time and how shadows are different everyday.
It was Harry Caray that pointed out shadows to me when he called games for both of Chicago’s baseball teams.
More so for Cub games because they played only day games when I was younger. He always pointed out where the shadows were during the game. By the last couple innings of a 1:20 start the infield would be dark and the outfield and bleachers still bright.
Knowing where the shadows will be during the year gives me a good bearing on where my life is.
The shadows will always be short on June 21st and long just before Christmas. Children grow up, neighborhoods change, friends grow gray and our parents leave too soon.
But shadows will always mark our days….
I don’t want to move from Chicagoland because we have the best pizza and hotdogs in the country. I don’t want to move from Chicagoland because I don’t want to relearn the shadows path from a different angle.
I like my angle in life.
Today’s Chalkboard quote is from William Faulkner and he might be right.
Though I like where my horizons lie. I like the one in the morning when a new beginning stretches sunlight on a fresh day and I like the fading glimpse of sunshine as the other horizon settles in for the night.
Look at both your horizons and watch the shadows in between. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and where you stand in time.
It’s gonna be a long hot day. Might have to pull out the old "Frampton Comes Alive" album. He too taught me about shadows as well.
I hope I just earwormed your Wednesday.
