PETER O'TOOLE: AN ENCOUNTER

Sad to hear of Peter O'Toole's death, this morning.  We ran into the actor in a tiny grocery store on the west coast of Ireland back, I guess, in the late 70s or early 80s.  We were on tour in a rented car, and had stopped there for I no longer know what when the actor breezed in with a young man in tow, shopping for supplies for a boat trip out to one of the remote islands off the coast.  Impulsively, and with genuine generosity, he invited us to join them for the ride.  Those famous blue eyes glowed with the promise of sheer pleasure.  Foolishly--because it would surely have been a memorable experience, we declined.  We were perhaps a little shy.  We were in a hurry to arrive at our next stop.  We were taken aback by the sudden invitation.  A shame.  We might have sacrificed a night at the next B&B, but we would have gained what would surely have been a truly remarkable memory.  One of the many opportunities we allowed to pass us by, for being focused on the future instead of the present moment...