Another evocative and very enjoyable post Jeffrey, I am so glad you had at least a few weeks of glory... it seems to me that all of us, we who grew up on farms, seem to have a story of a cross country run... mine was wet and cold, snowy cold, I fell many times and on the last couldn't (perhaps wouldn't more appropriately) get up... I was never going to beat my rival anyway - I never did!
Thank you Susie! I appreciate your comments and I can quite understand about not getting up... They probably told us the whole thing was character forming! If so, I'm still waiting to see the results in me 😊.
Well done, Jeffrey, so vivid a picture that I heard movie scores in the background as well as the sucking sounds of mud. Our seventh month dry season broke in October and it has been raining for days--my gardening routine closely follows the Japanese proverb--I have been curling up and reading.
Oh no, it needs to continue! This is our first rain in 7 months, we need rain in the rainy season. I’m happy with a book. I’ll garden when it’s over, everything is easier after the rains.
What a pleasurable juxtaposition of mud, rain and unlikely, once-in-a-lifetime triumph, quintessentially English yet universal. I knew you would win without even wanting to; the question that teased and intrigued was how you’d pull it off. Great choice of painting, too.
I love this visual "The teachers and few parents who stood at that line greeted me with surprised looks rather than cheers. " And that's where we shall end it, right? 😅 You did it young Jeffrey. Though tenacity, and I get the feeling, the more mud and rain, the better 💪
Oh Jeffrey! I feel like I shouldn’t have enjoyed this as much as I did—at your cost! And what a funny but true thought: “My “prize” was starting to feel like a punishment.” How often does this happen in life? More than we’d like, I think. Our successes becoming burdens…
Thank you, Kimberly, and I’m glad you enjoyed it even at my cost!
You’ve teased out one of the lessons I learnt from that experience. And part of the burden of success is to find that though glory fades, the competition just seems to grow stronger!
You’ve made me reflect on “ambition”. I had few ambitions in terms of running. But how have I navigated the narrow straits between too much ambition and too little in life overall? Or even, if those are the straits I’m passing through, am I in the right sea?
A story of determination rewarded, wonderfully told. You evoke the experience vividly. Hughes, Housman, Sun Tse, Clausewitz, and I would add Vangelis to the list. Why not Chariots of Fire, undaunted by mud and rain? I have no athletic ability whatsoever. Thank you, Jeffrey, for allowing me a vicarious triumph.
Thank you for running with me, Mary, and for your generous words. I guess the (encouraging) moral of the story for me was that even honest plodders like me win sometimes 😊.
From painting to poetry to (adolescent) cross country race to rugby, and the theme that threads through was the grey, wet, and cold weather. Bravo, Jeffery!
And “Steel-colored skies” is what I will borrow to describe the PNW winter 😄
Well done, Jeffrey, a moment of glory – albeit short – is still glory. And you told it even more gloriously.
Thank you, Portia!
A lovely story, beautifully told. A good old English underdog result.
Thank you, Andrew. Every dog has its day!
Wonderful— I was totally with you the whole way. 🏆
Thanks for joining me, Victoria!
What a fun read and a connection to the work is great. I reckon we've all been there.
Shades of Allan Sillitoe - minus the borstal.
Well done, lad!
Next time, I'll challenge you to a race along the river.
Just kidding.
Thank you for mentioning the Silitoe story/film, Gianni. The title was hovering somewhere as I wrote the piece.
I'm glad you're just kidding about the race! 😁
I could trash you in a game of calcio balilla, instead... if I could find one in Tokyo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football
I'm sure you would, I always struggled with that game!
Another evocative and very enjoyable post Jeffrey, I am so glad you had at least a few weeks of glory... it seems to me that all of us, we who grew up on farms, seem to have a story of a cross country run... mine was wet and cold, snowy cold, I fell many times and on the last couldn't (perhaps wouldn't more appropriately) get up... I was never going to beat my rival anyway - I never did!
Thank you Susie! I appreciate your comments and I can quite understand about not getting up... They probably told us the whole thing was character forming! If so, I'm still waiting to see the results in me 😊.
Bravo!!
🙏
Well done, Jeffrey, so vivid a picture that I heard movie scores in the background as well as the sucking sounds of mud. Our seventh month dry season broke in October and it has been raining for days--my gardening routine closely follows the Japanese proverb--I have been curling up and reading.
Thank you, Leslie! I thnk you are very wise to follow the proverb for your gardneing routine! I hope the rain stops soon.
Oh no, it needs to continue! This is our first rain in 7 months, we need rain in the rainy season. I’m happy with a book. I’ll garden when it’s over, everything is easier after the rains.
Oh, I see! 🌧️
What a pleasurable juxtaposition of mud, rain and unlikely, once-in-a-lifetime triumph, quintessentially English yet universal. I knew you would win without even wanting to; the question that teased and intrigued was how you’d pull it off. Great choice of painting, too.
Thank you, Rona. The desolate scene in the painting cries "bleak" to me.
Poems I love and your tale of your long distance run that sings in this essay .
I quoted Houseman at my son's funeral.
Thank you for your touching words, Mary!
I love this visual "The teachers and few parents who stood at that line greeted me with surprised looks rather than cheers. " And that's where we shall end it, right? 😅 You did it young Jeffrey. Though tenacity, and I get the feeling, the more mud and rain, the better 💪
Thank you, Lani. I used to enjoy the mud and rain. Now, just the rain!
Oh Jeffrey! I feel like I shouldn’t have enjoyed this as much as I did—at your cost! And what a funny but true thought: “My “prize” was starting to feel like a punishment.” How often does this happen in life? More than we’d like, I think. Our successes becoming burdens…
Thank you, Kimberly, and I’m glad you enjoyed it even at my cost!
You’ve teased out one of the lessons I learnt from that experience. And part of the burden of success is to find that though glory fades, the competition just seems to grow stronger!
You’ve made me reflect on “ambition”. I had few ambitions in terms of running. But how have I navigated the narrow straits between too much ambition and too little in life overall? Or even, if those are the straits I’m passing through, am I in the right sea?
A story of determination rewarded, wonderfully told. You evoke the experience vividly. Hughes, Housman, Sun Tse, Clausewitz, and I would add Vangelis to the list. Why not Chariots of Fire, undaunted by mud and rain? I have no athletic ability whatsoever. Thank you, Jeffrey, for allowing me a vicarious triumph.
Thank you for running with me, Mary, and for your generous words. I guess the (encouraging) moral of the story for me was that even honest plodders like me win sometimes 😊.
Now THAT is a tale of winning spirit, grippingly told! Where is that cup now, one wonders?
I'm afraid it didn't quite make the cut on the last downsizing of my worldly goods… 😔
From painting to poetry to (adolescent) cross country race to rugby, and the theme that threads through was the grey, wet, and cold weather. Bravo, Jeffery!
And “Steel-colored skies” is what I will borrow to describe the PNW winter 😄
Thank you for your close reading, Yi! And I look forward to your description of the PNW winter!
https://immigrantsjourney.substack.com/p/the-drizzle-of-the-evergreen-state
I wrote that a few years back. A new one will have to wait, as I am heading to Shanghai! :)
一路平安!
Fantastic story, Jeffrey. Loved the buildup, loved the win, loved the twist at the end. ;) in other words, fantastic storytelling, too.
I kept thinking of a time I ran, slowly and disorientedly in a race in the pouring rain.)
Thank you, Holly! I appreciate your generous words.