I was on the phone with my brother last night. That in itself is something of a newsworthy comment, given the rarity of our conversation. At any rate, he has a crotch-rocket Suzuki -- 900cc I think -- and has had it for 10 years now. I asked him, "What's the fastest you got that bike to?"
"One hundred forty miles an hour."
I thought, "That's crazy. You were a fool to do that."
He then offered, unprompted by me: "I realized that was crazy; it was too fast."
Gee ... ya think? :-)
* * *
My brother is a bit of an enigma. He's a flat-out genius, like you -- but in a different area. He's an incredibly gifted electrical engineer, and has a real aptitude for mechanical engineering as well. He lives alone in a small town in Tennessee, and has 600 acres of land on which he plans to build a remote house. He has his own observatory on top the mountain, with a retractable roof, a concrete slab six feet thick to dampen vibration, and a motorized mounting that rotates with the earth. He's not well gifted in the social graces, though neither am I but I get by.
Yet on the phone last night I detected a real warmth in his heart towards my aging parents; a warmth I did not know he possessed. It was quite touching. He also said he has been attending church for quite some time, which is something I never would have guessed.
It just goes to show -- one can't assume one knows the totality of the picture.
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