They're getting good at it....

holding memorials, I mean. Unfortunately, it seems, practice improves performance.

The tragic death of 15 year-old Alyssa Miller (left) is the most recent in a series of car accident fatalities that have rocked Lompoc High School. Thang Deng, Tony & Jesse Hang, Brice Fabing, Mikey Terrones, Brandon Pate - all taken away. And they've been joined by some local athletes a few years past their LHS graduations who have died from a variety of causes in the last five years or so. Plus, when you add the all too brief cancer fight of former AD Brian Ayer, for whom the court Alissa was remembered on Wednesday was named - it can be overwhelming.

For the kids in school, rapidly assuming the mantle of adulthood, the shock of such an occasion, rife with echoes of their own mortality, often causes them to reconsider their lives, commitments, and activities. While many of us older folk get to recall other people who have touched our lives and then were gone. Some of our own classmates; lost to wars, disease, and, yes, automobile crashes. A lot to dwell on, if you choose to.

And yet, something kept nudging & pulling me to a place beyond this reverie on the past. Something I was having trouble pinning down until the cross country meet at River Park and the Lompoc - Cabrillo girls golf match provided me with glimpses of a thread that ran through the lives of many of those lost - a thread expressed in part by their participation in sports.

You see, watching those youngsters reminded me that for most of them dreams of athletic glory are far less important than the participation portion of sports. And our "sports" memories are not necessarily about the games, but the shared moments they bring us. Watching the diminutive Tony proudly sporting his #41 jersey around campus, Brandon "DJ-ing" golf trips, Brice hitting the kick to end practice 'early', or Alyssa and her team mates acting like they were shopping as they each pulled a game jersey out of the box so Coach Thomas could take pictures for the football programs.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit on the gym floor and watch volleyball practice, varsity on the left, JV on the right. There was lots of work, lots of fun, laughter, & camaraderie. But, perhaps, more significantly, there was a great deal of enjoyment of the moment. Preparing, but not worrying. And Alyssa with a huge grin, right in the middle of the action, chasing down loose balls - doing what she apparently loved.

And, who knows, it might do us all some good to return every so often to the grand experience, not the "I pushed myself to to limit", "fully maximized and optimized life potential", experience. Rather the shear joy of living: being part of a group, thinking of goals larger than ones own, trying new things, doing something you are passionate about - exploring the universe around you. Maybe doing something you're not necessarily good at, not because it leads to something else, but because you have fun doing it, or just because you always wondered about it, or just because.

Not profound or original, but perhaps a speed bump in the 'busy' lane. As the saying goes -"plan for the future, but live for today because tomorrow never gets here." - el stato