Coloradan reflects on touring with Christopher Cross, tennis coaching and Uber driving

BY JULIO SANDOVAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

Inventor, musician, tennis player, coach, and most recently Uber driver are the various professions that have sustained Gene Morris’ life over the last several decades, including what he considers a robust spiritual path.

“I just love God’s creation, and I love to get out in it and explore and experiment with life. A lot of things I don’t understand, but I don’t have to understand them to enjoy them. So that’s kind of where I am in life,” he explained, while sitting outside next to his violin, which was leaning up against a park bench.

Morris says even though he is 71 years old, in his mind, he feels more like 17.

“I’ve been around for a while. I guess you could say I’m old enough to be a sage and that’s kind of dangerous because it means I have a trace of wisdom in there, and I know just enough to be dangerous, but the love of life keeps me like a teenager,” he explained with a laugh.

Morris told Rocky Mountain PBS that he plays the trumpet, piano, harmonica, violin and viola, which, according to his Facebook page made it easy for vetime Grammy winning singer/songwriter Christopher Cross to ask Morris to be a performer in his band.

“I played with Christopher Cross, and I think that’s where I learned a lot about the industry,” he added, explaining how that was the highlight of his career. “It was more than just the music; we would socialize and eat out. I got to know him.”

Morris’ Facebook page also talks about his 30-to-40-year career as a tennis coach; he claims to have worked with a few of the greats like Andy Roddick and Martina Navratilova. an easy decision after his wife decided that going on a rock and roll tour with Christopher Cross wasn’t going to happen since they had a young son at home.

“My son was one at the time — my rst-born, Nathan — and I was talking about going on the road for a year and my wife was like, ‘drugs, sex, and rock and roll? I don’t think so darling,’” he said with a laugh. “And she was right.”

“If I’d gone on tour, I’d probably not ford a family,” he said. ese days Morris is an Uber driver which he says pays for patent attorney’s fees for his development of a contraption called the “wave,” that helps violins sound better during studio recordings.

“One of the things I discovered while playing violin in the studio [is that] you have this wonderful hollow wood bodied instrument right next to your ear, and when I went into the studio

FROM PAGE 14 of our spirit and attitude. No wonder so many people are pissed o at so many others.

In large part, we are to blame for our unhappiness. Just as Julius Caesar told Brutus that the fault lies in ourselves and not the stars, our unhappiness often lies in our willingness to allow other people and nonhuman agents to control our lives by seizing our attention.

Every teacher has likely told their students to pay attention or pointedly asked them, “Are you paying attention?”

One great answer a distracted, bored, disinterested student could give is, “No, I wasn’t, but I am, at least for the moment, now that you’ve taken it.”

Rather than unload on the truthful student, a wise teacher could sounded like a rubber band; very thin, Morris explained.

Overall, Morris feels his life has been a lucky one. “I’m blessed because I get to hop in a car and meet people and I always carry my ddle on the dash,” he said. “You know, with the road rage, I can look at my ddle and just chill out and realize this too shall pass.” respond, “I hear you. I’m that way when I’m bored to tears at faculty meetings.”

Story from Rocky Mountain PBS, which has a content-sharing agreement with Colorado Community Media.

In days of yore, there was no need to make “me time.” It was generally the rule, especially in rural areas. For rural folks, cabin fever could be a serious malady. One antidote or elixir for it was a trek into town to connect and socialize with others.

Today the opposite has become the case. Urban and suburban dwellers now seek the cabin to escape the barrage of attention grabbers that incessantly yank and tug at them. Unfortunately, many people self-sabotage their e orts by toting along the instruments that keep them wired to the chaos from which they ostensibly crave to separate. For those folks, it ironically explains the old maxim that there is no rest for the weary.