And other Lessons in Humility…

It has been a dry year in my region of residence (Southwest US). Yesterday I was called by Santa Fe Zone (dispatch) about taking a Safety Officer position on wildland fires in Texas. But, I’m not available as the packing for a return trip to Petra has begun (see posts from March – early May). It has evolved into being a long process, as I started thinking about it month’s ago with the subsequent “check-lists” growing: cameras, treats (like microwave popcorn), and gifts (do you know how much a corkscrew can go for in Wadi Mousa… if you can find one?) Our Jordanian colleagues-n-friends from Petra, Tahani & Talal, are touring the Southwest US at present. Today is Friday so it must be Mesa Verde.

As I recall Meme’s & my last trip, a short one to Pacific Beach/San Diego for the post-Labor Day week, my most prolific memory is the 9+ hour power outage that started just as I finished some yoga positions. Meme’s brother Mark had just arrived to visit, I completed my yoga, and the electricity went away. Due to a possible cause & effect I refrained from doing yoga after that for over a week. Whenever I want a serving of humble pie all I need to do is walk onto a tennis court with racket in hand.

I love the game… but, it can be so… well, depressing… Unlike golf, that at its basics pits you against the course (features of nature designed into a cultural landscape), tennis has an opponent looking squarely at you saying “see what you can do with this.” Some days you can play well, the next time less-than-OK to the point where you wonder what happened to your game.

Humility is on my mind as I return to Petra. It is indeed a special place, and I am in awe of the people that make it what it is (and have for so long). In 131 B.C.E (aka A.D.) the Roman Emperor Hadrian (remember “The Wall” he had built in Briton?) unpretentiously renamed the city to: Petra Hadriana. “Pax Romana” had certainly arrived in the neighborhood, achieving what the earlier Greeks had been unable to do: physically take & control the city known as “Raqmu” (Aramaic for “the colorful”). The 1^st half of the new name survived, reminding us of another lesson of history: who knows what the future will bring, or how things will be chronicled. It is oft noted that the victors write what is passed to the future, but with a tweak here and revision there it seems the survivors are the authors of the ages. I believe Hadrian (and many "leaders") should have played some tennis. As-salaam Ahlaykum…