There was a little rhyme about my uncle when I was in his math class forty years ago. I don't think he would mind me remembering it here.
Ken Rose sat on a tack. Ken rose.
Perhaps the sixteen year old humorist thought the pun was clever. Maybe it was a commentary on the teacher's calm
demeanor. Uncle Ken didn't yell, rant, or jump. He merely rose. He was my mother's younger brother, which sometimes contributed to her annoyance when he could spell better than her. Multiply faster than her. Divide more precisely. When he was five.
He went on to compose articles that appeared in the Encyclopedia Britannica, which in case you are under thirty I will explain was the book form of Siri. Only much heavier. Traveling salesmen tugged on a
parent's heart strings with images of their child failing to know the population of Uruguay, should they not sign up for monthly installments for the next twelve years to buy them. Not mentioning that the information about such populations would be out of date by next week.
The challenge came when Uncle Ken was hired by another encyclopedia publisher to write an article for the same topic. He had to be comprehensive, and accurate without copying what he
had written the first time, which was also comprehensive and accurate.
The other day a friend mentioned that he was recently motivated to exercise. He said that at first he was like a dog that sat on a tack.
"The dog howled and howled. Someone asked his owner why, who replied that he was sitting on a tack. Then the person asked why the dog didn't just get up. The owner replied that it didn't hurt that
much."
My friend used it to explain that he had been lackadaisical about workouts because it didn't hurt enough to carry around twenty pounds. Finally, he got off the couch and into a gym. He feels great.
When our relationships hurt, but not that much, we can just keep sitting with the pain. Yesterday someone I have felt distant from made an overture. I expressed my gratitude. Today I think I will return the
gesture.
Hopefully we both rose to the challenge. (yuck yuck yuck)
