US Results at World's

The US did a great job rowing in Poznan. I neglected to update the blog with the results. Guess last week was pretty draining emotionally. Being away from Margot during a time when she was facing a lot of challenges alone was one thing. Another was the Ted Kennedy thing. I have heard from numerous friends of my age who also felt his death rather dramatically, for any number of reasons.
So I guess for me it was partially about the juxtaposition of US athletes, among them my daughter, striving for excellence; and someone a bit more from my generation although almost two decades older, striving for excellence in a different way, through overcoming flaws that were all too public, and at least one lapse in judgment and conscience that provided an ugly epitaph for his detractors.

So, my generation, I think we are all about that striving for excellence and perfection, and were all about idealism. Probably to a man and woman, we let ourselves down in ways big and small. And hopefully to a man and woman, learned that idealism isn't about attaining the ideal, it's about recognizing that something better is out there and doing our part to making that a reality, even though the realization of that ideal may not be during our lifetimes.
I love that about my children. Each one of them is better, in my evaluation, than I was at their age, for different reasons. And that gives me hope that one day, the world will be closer to that ideal we all protested about attaining in the late 60's.

This picture isn't particularly pertinent, but I look at the sky all the time now, an ongoing reaction to longing for it in Beijing last summer when it was hidden most of the time by the industrial sludge and pollution. I rejoice in this beauty -- it's limitless and so are we.