details......

ok, so last night.....in my dreams there was a vivid scene in which i am riding in the back of a van.....talking with my eldest child just returned from ireland (note....his plane has yet to touch down in charlotte, nc......but in my dreams he was already here at home....)....and in the middle of the van was my middle child....and driving was my dad........impossible as he is long deceased...but he was driving....and my mom was riding shotgun........and i can recall asking him to pull over so i could drive.....noting that we were already lost....looking for interstate 77.....a road nowhere near here.......and as i got out of the van there was an eagle....sitting by the side of the road.....yet looking into the ditch rather than onto the pavement.....and my middle child asked why the eagle was pointed the wrong way.......these details are certainly what prompts my brain to recall this and other similarly enhanced dreams.........and it is the details that prompted me to read the perfect mile...the september book club volume in the space of 4 days.........when one knows ahead the roger bannister breaks the 4.0 minute mile mark.......the buildup to the moment must be filled in with something.....and it is these details that fascinated my waking moments......for example.......those who watched bannister's record-breaking mile on television did so because they had purchased sets in order to watch queen elizabeth's coronation the year before........and landy.....the australian who wanted to reach the 4.0 minute mile first discarded his original coach because of his wild notions about training........landy learned more from a slavic runner at the 1952 helsinki olympics in the afternoon following a viewing of the bolshoi ballet than he did from all his years with the coach that taught him that warmups weren't necessary.......ie.......if his cat could run without a warmup when he was doused by surprise with a bucket of water....then nobody else needed a warmup, either..........and the guy from kansas.....wes santee........who fled his oppressive father one afternoon by riding away on the horse that had never been ridden before because it was the only mount that his father would let him take when he left home......to college on scholarship....to break the american mile record while at kansas.....his parents came neither to track meets or to his wedding..........the details about roger bannister are the most intriguing......a fellow who ran at night after his medical studies........he was a medical resident when he broke the 4-minute mile.....and had to do rounds before and after track events........i have an affinity for details aka trivia.....and this book reminded me of others that focused on a seminal event through a buildup of details....like seabiscuit.....and chariots of fire.........i finished the book this afternoon while my pear/blueberry/lemon jam was simmering........the pears were easier to deal with this week......... a detail to be recalled years from now if ever i do anything noteworthy....................