I read in the newspaper
that the actor Patrick MacNee had died the other day. He was the star of the
old TV show The Avengers. When I was young, I watched it occasionally at my
grandfather’s house when we were visiting. It was very British with the accents
and the cars and most of the episodes were odd in some sort of way. It wasn’t
your standard cops and robbers type of detective show. It was never clear who
he was working for and I didn’t always understand what was going on, but I was
fascinated by it anyway. MacNee played the kind of dapper gent that some of us
wished we could be but were light years away from actually being so. Even now
when I carry an umbrella (black of course) I think of the character Mr. Steed
that he played on the show. Suave, sophisticated, but with a sense of humor
that came from the twinkle in his eye. He was also a man not to be messed with.
A sage once said that we must know our limitations, and sadly some of our
limitations prevent us from what we really would like to be, but that is the
way of the world. At least our daydreams allow us to cross that line from time
to time.
