More Water: Duck tracks

My mind is still on water and rain. Of course water is a big part of our life, but with the wet weather it seems even more so. Today I’m thinking about dew. I posted a video to go along with this entry on my MySpace site - http://www.myspace.com/slivermoonglobal Click on "My videos" under my picture and click on "Duck Tracks."

I was in the middle of my morning run and the dew was thick on the grass. Everyone else uses the sidewalk, so I don’t know who had been there before me that day, but I run on the grass, leaving a dotted trail in the unbroken dewy grass. As I ran next to the pond I noticed someone had been there before me – it was a duck.

I ran next to the little foot prints, up and down the hills for a few minutes and then I looked back to see two tracks in the dew – his little dots close together, sometimes blurring together into one solid line, and my big splotches farther apart.

For some reason I felt a bond with the duck, you know, like we had been down the same road and had shared experiences.

Well, that’s just the way my mind works.

So, anyway, I thought about the short-legged dew treader meandering up and down the hills, and wondered: how long did it take him? Is it hard for him to walk up the steep hill? Why was he walking there? Was the dew cold on his feet? I wondered if he felt like me - did the morning air in his lungs compel him to live the coming day hard and full? Were his little duck eyes just as mesmerized as mine looking at the reflection of the new day in the perfectly calm water?

We left our mark, the duck and I, in the dew – two careless lines of green among the wetter green carpet, a fleeting witness to our presence, passage and purpose. Our brief mark on the world would evaporate within the hour. Like so many things we do in a day – leaving no lasting mark.

I remembered something I saw during the Pigman spring triathlon several years ago. On the side of the road, preserved in concrete, are a good long set of raccoon tracks. Apparently the little critter walked on the road while the cement was still wet. They will be there as long as the road lasts.

There are some things in our lives that don’t fade away: our wedding day, the birth of our children, graduation days. Sometimes there are big events like reunions, or vacations together, or trips which leave a lasting impact. I think for me there were big projects I did with others that left a lasting impression on all of us, like writing and performing musicals or movies, or the music tour. Also, there were lasting things I did on my own like marathons performances and travel.

So, my point is that, while most parts of most days are spent making tracks that will fade by the time the sun rises high, it is worth working towards big things. As we attempt weightier and more substantive goals we experience a fuller, more meaningful life. Also, at times we can even make someone else’s life more meaningful. Some people even made such lasting tracks that they impact people long after their own life is over: Beethoven, CS Lewis, Ghandi, Mother Teresa.

Well, that’s what I was thinking about when I ran next to the duck tracks.

I ran on and imagined my little friend waddling along thought about how much effort it must have taken him, and how easily I was skimming along the dew. I felt a bit superior.

On my way back I saw the duck on the pond, gliding effortlessly. I mentally compared that image to me swimming laps in the pool – water flying, waves everywhere, gasping like a steam engine, and moving forward at a snail’s pace for my effort.

Ok, I’ve got the grass but he’s got the water, we’re even, the duck and I. (Hopelessly competitive I am.)

Then he flew away.

Damn. Outdone by a duck.