Smile. Make it Memorable.

Finally we have an over 70 degree forecast for this evenings TRY session. Come on out and enjoy a perfect spring day. (With perhaps a touch too much wind.)

Nothing to do with running, but something that is going to have a HUGE impact on our running setting. Several ash trees in the park that our visible from our meet-up spot, or as we walk Angela's TRYangle, or even as you drive out the southern exit have numbers on them and tape around them. I assume that means the trees are planned for cutting down? But slight chance that they are just being monitored at this point or even being given the pesticide treatments mentioned? Here is a slide show article that came out yesterday from syracuse.com on how the county is dealing with the emerald ash borer blight. The pictures under the bark are rather amazing at the damage they can quickly do.

If all the marked trees in the park get taken down, it will a much different looking area. (And would take decades before any trees of significant size could take their place.)

Once again, nothing to do with running, but I stumbled across this interesting take on life. And most of us are alive, so thought it was worth sharing. My family went to "Sesame Place" in southeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. It is a "mini-Disney" type theme park in that it is much-much smaller, geared towards kids about 10 and under, and easily do-able in a day. It has roaming characters (from sesame street), character dining opportunities, is kept super clean, and has a daily parade...so it sure seems like they are copying or paying homage to the Disney system. (It is actually a Sea World owned and operated park despite having no marine animals in sight.) Anyway, they do a very good job there and I do recommend it for families with young children. (For anyone over 25 and with no children - you may be surprised to learn that Elmo has become the superstar of the crew...definitely gets the Mickey Mouse treatment around those parts.)

An access door ("team members only") happened to be propped open and on the inside was a sign for the "team members" to read as the last thing they see before interacting with the public. It said: "Smile! Be memorable!" I have thought about that for a while and cannot decide if that is a great thing or a terrible thing? From the characters, to the ticket takers, to the popcorn seller, to the poor soul standing there for 8 hours just to turn people away from the ride that is not open yet...they are all supposed to be "on" from the moment they step out that door just so us paying customers can have our best experience possible.

How would your life be different, if for every interaction you had today, you did your best to ensure that it was in the running for the best interaction that OTHER person was going to have all day? What if you were tasked with being memorable to everyone you came across? Constantly?! It seems like it would be VERY draining? But, then again, for those who believe in the "bucket filler" outlook on life, perhaps it would often be reciprocated and you would find yourself with more energy?

It is an interesting thought experiment. Too bad I am too much of a 

 

to ever give it a try. (Someone please do this for a day or two and let me know how it turns out?)