Golf Fest 2005, Part 2
I've been calling my recent vacations "Golf Fest" plus the year of the vacation. It's partly just for fun but it's also to symbolize my desire to play golf in different settings around the world, to celebrate my newfound ability to take vacations and to indicate that each vacation is one of a series that I want to continue. Last time I talked about Evian les bains, our headquarters for Golf Fest 2005. However, our vacation was not limited to Evian: We also visited Chamonix, the well-known ski resort that is devoted to golf in the summer and early fall, Divonne, a nearby golf resort and Yvoire, a small fishing town surrounding an ancient castle. I've added a few pictures to my scrapbook, page 4.
I prefer staying at resorts and traveling the least amount possible, once I arrive in a foreign spot, but I can see the advantage of looking at other places. Our side trips reminded me that we can never learn enough, we can never see enough, we can never know enough. For example, I had heard about Chamonix all my life but not being a skier I never expected to see it. Although I suppose I could do more before each trip, the days following these outings find me in my library and on the internet trying to learn more about the places I visited. And everything I learn about those places leads to more questions and a further search for information. My search for more information about Chamonix led to reading about the first winter Olympics in 1924. Reading about the first winter Olympics led me back to wondering about Mont Blanc and seasons and weather. As time passes, if this is like other trips, I'll be thinking about what I learned and seeking more information for years to come. And not only history either: I'll see people and events that will remind me of people and events on the trip and I'll be trying to apply lessons learned.
All of our lives we continue our education. Everything we do is a learning experience. Everyone we meet is both a teacher and a student. We have things to learn from everyone, about behavior, about ways of thinking, about living. And we have things to teach about the same things. As long as we continue to learn, as long as we keep our minds active, in some sense we remain young. I fear a time when I stop learning because then I will be truly old.
Let's use everyone we meet, every place we go, everything we do as a learning opportunity. We'll stay young and we'll be better prepared to live good lives. And let's try to impart our knowledge and experience to others, to help them remain young, to improve their lives.
10-17-05
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