Today was a pretty unusual day, all things considered.
Without going into dreary details that would be of interest to nobody, I managed to hold off starting work on the remaining translation until nearly 4 pm. Since then, I've managed to translate about 4300 source words, make soup, cook dinner, and walk the dog a few times. Based on the remaining part of the document and some errands that need attending to, tomorrow will be either a real snooze or a rip-snorter. I'm betting on the latter.
* * *In other news, I spent some time today thinking about mortality, given that a local chap in his early 40s apparently keeled over in the street this past week and died. Such contemplation is not like me, nor is it something that I particularly like to do.
I observed that part of me wants to live life with
"Carpe diem!" dancing on my lips, and another part of me wants to hunker down and observe the world - my part of it, at least - for as long as I can, living quietly, minimizing risk. And it occurred to me: Are these two fundamentally incompatible desires?
My conclusion is this: Likely not, in a physical sense (I mean, "seizing the day" doesn't mean you
have to engage in base jumping), but in a psychological sense, the answer is probably in the affirmative (it's kinda hard to
carpe the
diem if you're always worrying about scraping your knuckles in doing so).
But then worrying about "scraping one's knuckles" is no proof against actually having them scraped for you by Providence. The saga of the local fellow with his life cut short demonstrates that.
Then my thoughts turned to Tennyson's
Ulysses, which rarely fails to lift my spirits:
... Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
[...]
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Cheers...
