FELIX

Felix is my 2006 Chevy Equinox. You met him briefly in my last post. Like all volunteers at the MMSC, he gets down and dirty (sometimes smelly, too, thank you, Sam!) and literally and figuratively, “totes that bale” for the good of the horses. He’s the strong, silent type who does yeoman work for the Center with nary a complaint other than a sporadic flash of the “check engine” light.

“Go-fer,” chauffeur, feed ferry, cowboy, Felix wears many hats: He runs errands-- postoffice, feed store, tack shop. He travels through the Bluegrass so I can look at horses and takes me to meetings. He squires visitors when needed and acts as the MMSC shuttle during prominent shows. He ferries interns to field trips. He lugs grain and hay across the paddocks. He will recharge batteries and offer assistance from his first aid kit. His emergency tool chest is stocked with everything from duck tape, to Fix-A-Flat, wrench to baling twine. He’s a library (God forbid one should ever be without reading material!), and carries a blanket and a candle for warmth if in arctic temps his engine fails, which it won’t because he’ s Felix. He’s a closet packed with vests, fleeces, raincoats and parkas, boots, hats, caps, socks, gloves, bandanas, shades and sunscreen. There’s food, too, some of it packaged and some of it, well....hidden relics.

His name is Felix for two reasons: 

1. He succeeded Xenia Louise Thomas, my Ford Explorer XLT and she faithfully gave me 10 years and 200K+ miles without major complaints. I thought it auspicious to work X into his name. Besides, he’ s an Equinox. 
2. Felix means “happy” in Latin, and if you could have seen Xenia in her final days, you would understand how I felt about Felix when he came into my life.

It may seem odd to name an inanimate object. But follow the Merriam Webster dictionary definition #2 of the word inanimate: lacking consciousness or power of motion, and then reread Felix’s job description above. The self evident conclusion is that Felix is all about the power of motion. If that argument is not good enough, look at it from a quantum perspective: On nano levels, all matter (which includes Felix) is in motion. 

And, to get even more Clintonian (as in Bill)  in argument, let us consider Merriam Webster dictionary definition #1: lacking in life or in spirit. I’ll admit claiming that Felix has “life” is, well, insane, but perhaps we could embrace a “spirit” of broadmindedness and go “waaaay out” on the woo-woo limb for the mind-stretching fun of it? Take a look at The Hidden Messages in Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto. Using high speed photography, Dr. Emoto did a series of experiments and found that crystal formations where influenced by concentrated thoughts--positive or negative--directed towards them as they went from a liquid to a frozen state. 

Huh?

Yup. Water exposed to loving thoughts or beautiful music (i.e. Mozart) formed exquisitely complex and beautiful crystals. Water that was maligned and subjected to violent music formed distorted incomplete crystals. Get the book. Look at the pictures. It’s food for thought. No, better said:  WATER for thought. Thoughts literally change matter. Wow!  What extraordinary influences on the world we might have!

I am starting one tiny influence at a time. I have given Felix a name and I direct my gratitude towards him fairly regularly. Maybe by doing so I am influencing his quantum particles for the good?! Goodness knows, I can’t afford for him to break down, so I just imagine him in perfect working order and I marvel daily at his good and unfailing service. And so far, so good. Thoughts become things, choose the good ones. 

But then this is nothing new: Jesus tells us to be mindful of our thoughts. Keep your thoughts positive, focus on desired outcomes: “Seek and you shall find.” “Ask and you shall receive.” So does Lao-Tzu in the Tao Te Ching some 500 years 

earlier, and Buddha, and Confucius, as do all motivational speakers these days. And now neuroscientists are backing up this “woo-woo” talk with proof. “The way your neurons fire determine the way they wire.”

Which leads me to my next point: Not-for-profit leaders often wear out their volunteers with too many demands. Felix with 150K+ on his odometer, a leaky sunroof (thank goodness for duck tape and, in downpours, that umbrella I carry so I can stay dry while driving!), along with a few other signs of wear and tear, is bound to say “Enough!” to his MMSC volunteerism at some point.

When Felix retires, a new small 5 passenger SUV company  vehicle with front or all wheel drive emlazoned with the MMSC logo would be an extraordinary replacement.

I wonder!?

The power of positive thinking? “Seek and you shall find?” “Ask and you shall receive?” 

It’s worth a try. What if we were to combine our collective thoughts on the thought of Felix's successor being donated to the MMSC????? 

Cheery bye,

Susanna

P.S. Thank you, Felix!