It's well-worth pondering. I'd be delighted to find out what brand of cigars he smoked. Sadly the tobacco industry cannot advertise their products as aids to longevity. Now I got rants in my pants! However, I'll contain myself...but...
But another thing! Why would we have older books, people, cave art or dreams of bygone loved ones if our predecessors were not trying to talk to us? The enigmatic silence of the future, where we have concerns about lives yet to come, disturbs us. We can predict bits of future rarely, but we can sure get a load of the past and that helps, I guess. So I'll close with a question about our status as a species:
Are we an evolutionary expression of sentience, discussion and stewardship of a planet, or simply another historical excrescence?
Mr. Overton's bias toward happiness is at the heart of the science we need.
What a wonderful smile Mr. Overton had! Thanks for that lovely, uplifting clip, Geo.
ReplyDeleteAs for tobacco, that's what killed my husband, so be careful, my friend.
Dear Jenny, thanks for your comment and kind caution. I am corrected and improved by it.
DeleteAt our best we should be both. We need to take care of now while looking to the future. Our minds are designed to have new ideas for both. Historical excrescence is a bit harsh. We will leave our imprints as those who came before us did.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, You're quite right, our minds are meant to navigate the universal moment. We do our best. My unfortunate inclusion of historical 'excrescence' came from a sudden giddiness caused by remembering how to spell it. Happens sometimes.
DeleteThank you Mr. Overton indeed. A wonderful prescription for a happy life.
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to see he was a cat person too. And a soup lover. We'd all be better off if we could smile like that. Thanks Geo for sharing the video of an evolved human being.
Dear Tom, I too was impressed by Mr. Overton. Imagine experiencing more than a century of history and endorsing simplicity, ice cream, good company --things, animals and people who make you happy. I'm only a kid in my 70s and just getting the hang of it. Soup with every supper now.
DeleteLiving simply and leaving a healthy imprint on what we leave behind has always been my goal. Not sure if it's the key to living long, or if it's the key to living happy.
ReplyDeleteBut I do know soup and animals are keys for warming the soul. And far less controversial than smoking.
Dear Juli, I certainly agree that living simply and happily are conducive to longevity --but there are far too many variables to make it axiomatic. I believe it because it feels right. We are, after all, among the experts on ourselves. Recreational smoking, drinking, gator-wrestling etc. should be enjoyed in moderation.
DeleteExcellent post and video. If we all could have such equanimity, world would be a better place. Thanks, Geo.
ReplyDeleteDear Mike, Thanks. Planet is definitely improved and stabilized by Overtons.
DeleteStewardship of our planet? Hardly a shining example of human expertise. If we do leave imprints, I wonder if there will be anyone around to read them. If there are, let us hope they read the imprints correctly.
ReplyDeleteDear Tom, Maybe it's a kind of intertemporal communication: we learn from the past because it speaks to the present, as the present addresses the future. The constant is unconditional caring.
DeleteWhat a wonderful video, Geo! How inspiring to see someone happy in his own skin and grateful for what he has in life. And what a beautiful, heartwarming smile Mr. Overton has. I'm a big believer in smiling. I definitely think that we are an evolutionary expression of sentience. Our planet is very, very rare, and we are unique as far as we know it. Where that leaves us in the great scheme of things, I'm not sure. But I don't think we are meaningless. I have great hope for the future and what we can do to mitigate the harm we've caused through ignorance. This hope comes from Terry and my families next generation and the amazing things these "kids" are doing. Some are tackling climate change and robotics, others are championing human and animal rights, and one is spreading joy and happiness with good food and wine. We hear so much about all the bad things, but many good and hopeful things are happening too. I'd be giddy too, if I could spell "excrescence." My big spelling success last week was memorizing "Lichtenstein." Our predecessors are talking to us, and I think they do so because they don't want the meaning and value of their lives and dreams forgotten. Wishing you and Norma a happy and healthy week. I hope you're still feeding beautiful kitties!
ReplyDeleteDear Louise, thanks for your very generous and thoughtful comment. Read it just before Norma asked for two more hands feeding 7 cats in our yard. I watched from behind as she actually REALLY herded cats (adrift from homes cleared by Covid) toward our barn. I began singing the old "Rawhide" song from the '60s. "Rollin' rollin' rollin', keep them doggies (?) rollin'" ...then abruptly, mercifully, stopped. I believe it's a footnote of Mosaic Decalogue that cats can't be herded....
Delete"We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse—
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born."
--In the 1960s, I attributed the poem to "Rowdy Yates", a character played by Clint Eastwood in "Rawhide" --because Rowdy always took the side of enlightened and principled liberty. W.B Yeats's poem took a side to a cause close to him: killings that led to a reinvigoration of the Irish Nationalist movement rather than its demise. I used the Rawhide spelling despite challenge. Although questioned by my teacher, I persisted with "Rowdy" Yeats (small compromise). We all do our parts.
Well, my friend, you sent me down a rabbit hole with the Yeats poem "Easter 1916." I wasn't familiar with it. As I researched the poem, I learned about the Irish Nationalist Movement and who the people in the poem were. I'm sure I heard about the rebellion in the past, but had forgotten it.
DeleteIreland has been a tragic mess throughout my life, and there have been decades and decades of fighting. My husband is of Irish descent, and his mother who was from outside Cork carried hatred for what the Black and Tan did there until she died. Relatives died. I wish I had asked her more about it.
In the past year I discovered that I was 41% Irish ~ a truly shocking event because I thought I was almost 100% Scottish. But my people on both sides came from the outer islands and western coast of Scotland, and that isn't far from Ireland!
So I feel a special sadness for MacDonagh, MacBride, Connolly, and Pearse who were executed because of their leadership in the rebellion. Likely excess of love for their country did bewilder them till they were executed. Ireland was and is a terrible beauty. But their dreams live on, and the rebels will live on as heroes.
When I was younger I might have fallen for such dreams. I was always protesting this and that. Now that I'm older and know how much people who die young miss in life, I'm less passionate and carried along. Life is precious, and I'd rather live. Say "hi" to the cats for me. Is there anything that Norma can't do?
Dear Louise, sounds like you too have heard of the brutality of the Black And Tans. My mother's people were of Scot-Irish composition. She married a Portuguese, which is why I got Moorish ulotrichy --an old cultural absorption. The cats say "hi". And no, so far I've found nothing Norma cannot do. Her origins are Kryptonian and I've never got her limits.
DeleteSuch bliss! I miss cigars, but life has plenty of soup and joy here. From excrescence we make compost. Anything ending in 'scence' sounds sparkly to me, a mild delusion I hope to keep. Excellent work on sharing, and of course the cat herding xx
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa, Indeed, in compostal matters, excrescence makes 'scence' to me as well. Historical or septic-tankal, why have it piped off the property when it enriches earth so well? We learn from the story of Earth. Cat herding, I leave to Norma, who exudes quiet love. I follow her too. Have I also described you?
Deleteaaaaaaaaaah, what a smile
ReplyDeletePrecisely my thought when I saw a site-profile picture of you. Blue top definitely becomes you...and what a smile.
DeleteGeo., I don't know what happened to my original comment so I'll just say I like Mr. Overton's attitude and his smile.
ReplyDeleteDear Bruce, I checked my g-mail comment alert and found no sign of your original comment. So glad you tried again. Don't know what's going on or not lately with Blogger and free speech generally but must quote Mr. Overton,"I may give out but I'll never give up."
DeleteWonderful video. I hope to be similarly fortunate in health. Thank you, Geo, for linking this.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
Dear Prof., I consider it a privilege to share Mr. Overton's formula for happiness and peace. What that gentleman undoubtedly experienced in his long life attests to the durability of the human spirit. Our hopes concur, dear Prof.
DeleteHonestly? We're all fools doing the best we can. If we are wise enough to learn from the past, we are lucky. However, as parents, teachers, mentors, what have you, we learn quickly how difficult it is to pass on such wisdom, no matter how true or correct it might be. In the end, we each have to learn for ourselves to believe anything. And sometimes, even that isn't enough.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why life is hard.
Dear Squid, As a very intelligent and eloquent Blogger correspondent recently wrote, "Data's head can function separately from the rest of his body", I consider Mr. Overton's statements from his declining physique to be instructive. I agree, life is hard but can include such teachable moments.
DeleteDear Geo., thank you for that heart-warming video! It makes me happy to see how vivid one can still be at incredible 109! And it makes one humble, especially when one is on a wail-trip about trifles.
ReplyDeleteI love that he does what he thinks best - smoking the cigars, eating ice cream, driving his car (at the first mentioning I thought: WHAT???) - and he seems not to care about media advice on "staying healthy with our newest diet number 10357".
Living with faith, believing in fate.
I think about getting a cat :-) - always wanted too, but landlords and travels were always against it - and those 20 years in my own house I had so many other things to do. Well - seeing this video I hope a cat will come when it is meant to :-)
Dear Britta, I too was amazed by Mr. Overton's durability. I also understand his fondness for cats. In the past 2 years several neighbors have succumbed to covid-19. Their cats come to our back door and to our barn. We feed them, get them neutered when we can, and through ASPCA (American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) get them vaccinated. Some have moved on in search of new homes but 7 or 8 have remained here.
DeleteThey eat a lot. Still, I recommend them: if you want a friend who is covered with fur and not overly emotional, you could do worse than get a cat.
Excellent video and post, Geo. Mr. Overton is an inspiration to us all.
ReplyDeleteDear Mother Wintermoon, So good to hear from you again! I am inspired by Mr. Overton AND by the pleasure of your renewed company.
Delete