Louis Roney: Using the old bean

• Those of us old-time Winter Parkers who were in school here during the antediluvian days may feel empowered to say a word about downtown Park Avenue and the kind of place we want it to remain. Perhaps the City Commission could impose a 90-day freeze on all new dining permits for Park Avenue. During that time, the city staff, property owners, merchants and local boards could work together to define exactly what type of restaurants and other enterprises will allow the “extraordinary charm and character of Park Avenue” to endure for many generations to come. Makes sense to me! There are qualities in life that, once relinquished, are difficult, if not impossible, to recapture.

• “Reciprocation” was a word I heard often in my grandmother’s home, and in the homes of my many relatives. Reciprocation was based on a keen sense of social custom and manners that makes things work. I can remember as a small boy when one of my elders would say something to this effect, “We must include the Smiths, we are under obligation to them — we were at their home for dinner three weeks ago.”

• When I was a kid, my younger sister was a talented diver, and at 13 was already performing from the 10-meter diving tower at the lake where we all swam. I climbed the tower once, looked down, and made my first and only dive — feet first!

• When you have spent extended time in the town of Tallahassee, you wonder why so many people break their necks to compete for office to serve there!

• We’re told to “take life a day at a time.” I’ve never found any other way I can take it. Life is a deck of cards face down, and we can take the top card and turn it face up only once every 24 hours. We never know what’s left in the pack, or whether the next card is an ace or a duce. Logic would dictate that we should be ready to play any card that comes up — that’s called “preparedness.” Some people are better at playing the game than others, but there is a lot of luck involved in everyone’s life. If you don’t believe that, ask an ugly girl who has a beautiful sister.

• Of all the vexing human relationships, the most difficult can be in a family. Having kids and siblings is an unpredictable affair. They can either be like two peas in a pod or as unalike as though they were spawned on different planets. Both heredity and environment are importantly involved in varying proportions. A sibling may or may not like you, so be prepared for it. In any case, it’s the only hand you hold, ergo, the only hand you can play. It’s possible that your kids or siblings never really get to know you. They may not be interested enough, or see what’s to be gained in partaking in such a relationship. Jealousy can also be a big factor that turns siblings into antagonists, and makes them quasi-competitors in everything you attempt.

• Teaching singing seems unique to me because it imparts to a gifted student a way to organize and start the growth process in his inborn talent — and overcome the negatives of stage fright and reticence at being a “showoff.” Showing off is what successful people in all professions do, to some degree or another. Rising above the crowd to become highly visible is a necessary attribute in almost every successful venture.

About Roney: Harvard’42—Distinguished Prof, Em.—UCF 2004 Fla. Alliance for the Arts award (Assisted by beautiful wife Joy Roney)