Brian Prows

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Hurley Creates Golf Courses and Hope On Lost Islands

During an episode of the TV series “Lost,” one of the best television series, Hurley, the big guy in need of a diet, told Jack: “You know what’s wrong? We’re just not having fun,” the best kick-in-the-ass comment made by any character in the series.

Jack, the medical doctor, the guy who always needed to be in control, the leader whom everyone relied on finally “got it.” In the midst of danger everywhere–from the jungle, the “others” on the Island, the lack of food, the over-extended plane trip with danger all around–Hurley decided to build a golf course and make life “fun” again.

Hurley is a Metaphor for Hope

Hurley, the guy you’d least expect to offer comfort, sensed the stress and dismay of those who survived the plane crash.  He created hope for those lost on a strange island by “creating golf courses and hope on lost islands.” He realized that people in dire straights need to have “fun” to stay sane.

Thanksgiving is Thursday, followed by “black Friday,” the start of the Christmas shopping season. There’s a cold wind blowing in shopping centers and Santa is loading his sleigh this year with essentials he raided from Walmart. HD TV sets are off the gift lists this year. It’s time for extra blankets to warm us as we turn the thermostats down.

Watching shoppers in stores is like visiting a morgue. The smiles are well-hidden. The laughter hard to hear. The fear is palpable. The uncertainty everywhere. Hope is hard to find. It’s like being lost on Hurley’s island without a golf course in sight.

During these times of internal strife and anxiety, comfort yourself. And don’t forget to create your own mental golf course as you wander on lost islands. Fun and happiness are just beyond the next tree.

Great White Sharks Return to Golden Gate Bridge

Great White Sharks returned to Bay Area
Great Walk Sharks Reappear Near Golden Gate.

Great White Sharks Return to Bay Area

Californian’s are a strange lot, no doubt, but neither earthquakes nor floods nor swine flu nor collapsing bridges bring us to our knees. And that goes for sharks too. We’re a hardy bunch here in the Bay Area and we treat recent reports of great whites poking around the Golden Gate Bridge like water off a duck’s (shark’s?) back.

Stanford University Tags Great White Sharks

Around ten years ago, researchers at Stanford University and UC Davis started tagging 179 white sharks to watch their migration from Hawaii to California to the shores of Montezuma.

Apparently the little critters–well, actually they grow up to to 15 feet long, weighing 4,000 pounds–have never been known to attack seals, sea lions, other animals in the Bay or human flesh. That’s contrary to the movies, of course, but who wants to see a movie about tame white sharks. Let’s see those teeth, guys.

Great White Sharks Give Us Hope

As I thought about the great whites swimming around the Golden Gate, I couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Come on, we finally patched the Bay Bridge. It shouldn’t collapse for at least a few more years. The California economy is a little bit improved but struggling. They’re lots of  Herbert Hoover’s in Washington crying out: “Prosperity is just around the corner.”

Despite improvements in unemployment and the artichoke harvest, California is still basically broke. Voters and politicians gave legislators carte blanche credit cards. We’re running out of water and paying over $4 for gas. (Major refineries have cut back on gasoline production. How curious?  And now great white sharks have the audacity to enter our bay and take their time admiring the Golden Gate.

I think the great whites are a symbol of hope and despair, greatness and weakness, joy and sorrow. I think they came to help us out in our times of woe. There’s something magnificent about creatures that rule the seas without putting themselves in harm’s way. Our leaders in California and Washington might learn from the great whites how to be powerful, yet graceful, watchful but not paranoid, navigators, not invaders…and thrifty spenders of taxpayer money.

Perhaps the great whites remind us that despite wars, famine, hatred and mistrust, there’s still hope for a species that thinks itself superior to all others.

I’m glad the great whites came–for a visit–as long as they don’t stay too long.