Author: Carl Setzer

A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.

The First Airfield at Sand Point in Seattle

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Naval Station Puget Sound Sign

When I was a boy, we re-settled in Seattle as my dad was transitioning out of the Navy. Proximity to the commissary, Navy Exchange, and other amenities of the Sandpoint Naval Station were key elements to our choices of housing. This facility has long been a key part of my life.

Valarie, at Wedgwood in Seattle History, wrote a fun article about a piece of its history: The First Airfield at Sand Point in Seattle. As something of a scholar of regional history, I appreciate people who can expand my knowledge. And Valarie delivers in this regard! I won’t give away too much of her post, but here are two of my favorite tidbits:

  • I never heard of the First World Flight, whose centennial is coming up.
  • I appreciate the details of how the Airfield was established because of insights from WWI.

So, I recommend heading over and checking out this article. If you’re interested in Seattle’s history, you should subscribe to her blog.

Today’s Morning Haiku

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with my morning tea
the gentlest of breezes
sunlight through the clouds

I love calm mornings. Today, Seattle’s weather seems to be pivoting from rain to partially cloudy. Blue skies punctuated with white clouds. Summer’s heat abated, whether temporarily or for the rest of the year is uncertain, but I’ll take the respite.

Autumn Approaches

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Today's haiku
orange and red leaves
as i gaze out my window
glories of autumn

The maple just outside my office window already shows autumn colors. Of course, September approaches quickly. Less than a week (Sunday) brings the new month. As tempting as it might be to make some reference to the passing of time, it doesn’t feel very creative.

Some thoughts on the article: “How a brush with death shaped my long game”

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autumn fallen leaves on gravestone

Like Eric Markowitz, for years I’ve been focused on “the long view” (as I’ve called it), or as he calls it “long-termism” (I do like his term). Basically, it means trying to make decisions that have a long-term, sustainable impact and escaping the tyranny of short-term (or, dare I call it, micro-term thinking). That mindset where the only thing one considers is maximizing profit (or enter your preferred KPI here) NOW, or perhaps out to the next earnings report. This thinking is so destructive when you look at the long game.

Mr. Markowitz wrote a piece last month titled “How a brush with death shaped my long game“. TLDR: he gets seriously sick, looking at a very high likelihood of death in the next few months. As you might expect, this causes one to rethink…a lot. (Fortunately, it has a happy ending…read it for the full details…it’s worth it).

He has lots of great ideas, but I particularly appreciate this one: “Playing the long game isn’t just about structure and process and systems that are designed to withstand the long-term: it’s about the joy and gratitude of getting to play the game in the first place.” I get fixated on the structure and processes and systems, and lose site of the joy.

Like him, I’ve had this long-term view in my mind, but have been really poor at living it. It’s far too easy for me to get wrapped up in short-term stresses, and lose track of the long-term goal. I appreciate the wake-up call (and am glad mine is this article and not the frightening series of events that Mr. Markowitz experienced).

I need to pull back and look bigger picture, focus on my long-term goals, and keep my short-term worries in perspective. Easier said than done, I know. Yet, I also know, it’s an effort that’s worth it. Like Thoreau, I want to ensure that “when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” That’s what’s most important to me.