Dad's Life Lessons

Santa Cruz - Part 1

Marianne's Ice Cream

So my little brother Stuart decided to fly in on the weekend of July 15th - the same weekend I had plans to go to LA. I was able to take the day off (last minute) so that he and I could spend all day Friday together.

For those of you who don't know, Stuart and I were only one grade apart in high school and so we have lots of great memories together from high school. We shared all of the same LDS friends, and many of them lived just over the hill at "Summit" - on the way to Santa Cruz. Thus, we would often spend our weekends and our summers at the beach, at the boardwalk, and over the hill.

So when Stuart and I were contemplating what to do on Friday, we almost immediately agreed that going to ~Santa Cruz~ would be a perfect activity. We would ride the Giant Dipper and we would eat ice cream at Marianne's

I picked Stu up in Los Gatos around 10am and we drove quickly and speedily down 17 to Santa Cruz.

And so we approached our First Stop: Marianne's Fine Ice Creams
(Yes, it was only about 10:30am and no, we had no qualms eating ice cream that early.)

So, Marianne's has somewhere around ~~50 ice cream flavors~~ available for selection. Yum! While ginger is my personal favorite, Stu and I agreed that we would each get two scoops to share so that we could try a total of 4 delightful flavors!

Here's what we chose:

Stu: Cinnamon Caramel (immediately, Stu wanted this one)

Karren: German Chocolate (because we needed more chocolate)

Consensus: Cinnamon Caramel exceeded our highest expectations. You can buy it and try it at The Milk Pail Market in Mountain View. German Chocolate though delicious was way too rich. We couldn't finish it.

Stu: Lemon Custard (Stu loves anything with custard)

Karren: Banana Almond Fudge (very similar to Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey)

Consensus: Lemon Custard was very rich, very sweet, but good. However, Banana Almond Fudge was superior.

Here is Stuart enjoying his ice cream with great satisfaction:

Here is Karren anticipating with great delight her next bite of ice cream:

And here is our Consensus: Success. Stay tuned for our next adventure.

"Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza." - Dante

Consider your birthright:
You are not made to live like brutes,
but to pursue virtue and knowledge.

Consider your birthright
I love that we are told to go back to the beginning. Remember your origin. Think about who you are. Consider your birthright. When we go back to our roots - consider not only where our family came from - the sacrifice, the survival - but also consider where mankind comes from - it is a serious thing. Suddenly, it seems bigger than the details that fill up my day: I forgot my cell phone, work is stressing me out, I like pink, and that apple was delicious. They are the details of my life, but consider where you come from.

You are not made to live like brutes..
What is it to be a brute? Or rather, what is it to live like a brute? Brutes do not think about others or anything beyond their own whims, assumptions, and desires. They are ruthless, they are cynical, they are harsh and they are shortsighted.

But to pursue virtue and knowledge
Something interesting I noticed is that the distinction here is not between living like brutes and living like saints. It's between living like brutes and pursuing virtue and knowledge. TO PURSUE. That is such a strong verb. It is dogged, it is persistent, it is full of ambition. I am also impressed by the combination of virtue and knowledge. Virtue is often slated as something the ignorant cling to because of tradition, because of conspirators, or other weak reliances/inhibitions; however, virtue leads to wisdom, it leads to understanding, it leads to progress, and it leads to deep happiness. It avoids much of unnecessary evils of life and it is cautious in exposing itself to danger. It is not enough to simply seek knowledge and not act with it. Nor is it enough to simply seek virtue. To blindly follow a virtuous path is to run on a path and never look up to see the destination, the changing scenery, the beauty of reality around us - we can trip unnecessarily, we call what should be an edifying and energizing experience something painful and requiring great sacrifice. No, virtue should not be painful - it requires sacrificing something minimal for something beautiful. However, to be motionless in study, observation, and even wonder is an equal tragedy. Virtue is action - knowledge is understanding. The two must be pursued together.

If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life. ~Oscar Wilde

I've been trying to figure out exactly what this quote means. Oscar Wilde alternates between the profound and the incisive, so it's hard to judge solely by author. My brother thought it quite humorous, and yet I find it quite bittersweet.

I guess what I find rather pathetic is the thought of the things one will do when told what one wants to hear. Or the lengths one will go to to believe it, even when the rationale for trust is gone. Whether it is devotion or delusion, it's just rather sad.