My sophomore year at Syracuse I lived in the dorm with the athletes from all of the major teams. One day outside the dorm, I was having a football catch with one of the football players. A non-athlete student living in the dorm came up to me and asked me a question. He said, “would you be willing to take some time, this semester, to teach me to catch and throw the football?” I replied; “sure, no problem.” He said; “thank you, IN TURN I WILL TEACH YOU TO SPEAK PROPER ENGLISH.”

He was Ted Koppel, who became a famous news caster on a major TV station. One couldn’t get a better teacher than Ted Koppel. It is NOW obvious that I needed more lessons than I received from Ted.

Another lesson that I learned was when I attended a huge meeting, in the long house, of the Haudenosaunee people on the reservation. It was packed with all Native Americans. I was honored to be able to attend. Many people didn’t know my name, but some remembered me from being around the reservation for a few years. I was sitting in a section with one of the chief’s wife. It was difficult for me to hear, so I got off the bench and walked closer to where the chiefs were. I was wearing moccasins, and they were wet from the rain. So, on the floor I slipped and fell and rolled over, got up and fell again. One of the chief’s yelled; “TUMBLEWEED are you OK?” Another yelled; “TUMBLEWEED do you need some help?” With that, I was forever called TUMBLEWEED. The lesson was to learn to LAUGH AT YOURSELF. I laughed a lot.   

TAKE CARE, STAY WELL, STAY HEALTH, HAVE FAITH. BEAR LOVE. THANK YOU.                       MORE LESSONS FOR ME…Winnegrad

Categories: PERSPECTIVES

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.