hello friends

I haven't been so busy since working for old local 806 in the Hudson Valley, in New York. College is a test, I guess. I took one too many courses this semester. Last semester was just right for me. I need to feel that I can invest adequate time to each class so that I get the most from my opportunity to learn. Getting good marks is ok, but it should only be a reflection of sufficient work, a sign that the student gathered, harvested, studied, inhaled, in the orchard of apples.

What a good time: reading Dante, Chaucer, Augustine, Aquinas, Marx, Locke, Burke, Mill, Cervantes, Erasmus. I can only say to my friends who are mature enough to appreciate what is in the great books: jump in (again). Not only is youth wasted on the youth, but college is too. I know it's unfair to say that, and it's untrue. But it is more true that older minds can gain more from the wise men (and women) of the canon than the young. Experience gives relief (as in sculpture), compassion, understanding, and wonder, at the great minds who've left us their thoughts. Besides, most of my college educated friends were like my young classmates, just getting their tickets stamped on the way to fulfilling someone else's expectations. Now is the time to savor what riches are there for us.