Well when Vintage had their retail store it began like this. Fang and I would drive up their and I would read their catalog out loud until we got lost from ignoring the directions but paying close attention to the rose descriptions. We'd pull up and begin our wanderings through the tables. I would go find what I had researched and then the signal cry from Fang would rend the air."Oh! Oh! Look...AT THE BUD! Look at the bud. Holding it aloft and I would look up and ask the name and she would murder the French. So I'd HAVE to go look. She'd buy it that week and I'd get it when we returned...Her garden is full of roses that I couldn't grow and vice verse to a lesser extent. Oftentimes Rosefolly or Pam and Michael would show up to give input and we all have copies of roses in each other's gardens and do not dither about making up your mind because Michael can make his up in a trice and goodbye Pharisaer...Nowadays it is more difficult. I'm a victim of the written word--give me snake oil. Here is just one such rose that captivated me, often in the falling rain...the light is perfect then. la

Trailrunner, I hear what you are saying about the value of work, & how it contributes to lives, to society, to who we are. We are interdependent & couldn't get through a single day without the contributions of 100's of people! Isn't that a humbling thought? The efforts of so many are simply vital! One week without trash pick-up illustrates that reality beautifully! We really are all connected. We also live in a world where WORK is given so very much attention & adulation for all the wrong reasons! What people do to earn money (& of course how much they earn!) often defines them to an extent that I personally find bizarre. I know you know what I'm talking about! That is why I care less about how people earn a living than with other features of their humanity. What interests me the most about the people who have impressed me over the years, is a certain "quality of attention" they give to a task, no matter how grand or humble it may be. That presence, that "flow" as it has been called, is being fully human, & is strikingly beautiful. The way someone who is mindful & present sets a table, prepares a meal, interacts with a child, speaks to strangers, can mesmerize me. We can witness life in it's fullest, most whole, complete & beautiful, by seeing even the simplest thing done with great care. But, moments like that can easily be overlooked & or seen as meaningless in this world so obsessed with career paths & success strategies. Still, indeed, I well agree that a person can perform the work they do for a living with the care, attention & presence I am referring to, & when that happens, we are all made better! (Actually, you, your dh, your son & his wife (at the restaurant) impress me as fine examples of people who live like this!) You nursed the sick, you sang opera, you ran the trails. You have seen others nurse, sing & run as well. I would imagine that you did all of these things attentively, lovingly, mindfully, but certainly you have witnessed these tasks performed robotically or in a "check list" sort of fashion. For me, it is not the "what" but the "how" that leads to completion, wholeness, fufillment, whether we are "working" or not. Whatever we are doing, matters little in the end, but what could be sweeter than to feel content with "how" we've done things, no matter what they were, no matter how small or insignificant? To live with true quality of attention, to do our best, no matter if anyone is looking or a paycheck is in the mail. With this approach to life, when one "retires" the habit of living mindfully & being present has enriched the heart & mind so fully that a "deficit" or void of any kind is not perceived. Life in all of its fullness continues to surprise, delight & offer rich rewards, even without the job, title, paycheck & all the status & approval from others that those things confer.

rhizo - I have occasionally asked a few people if they have the particular book I'm missing and the responses were about 50-50. Unfortunately, back then I would simply loan a few books at a time to people and assume they'd return them, so I wouldn't miss a particular book for quite a while. Sometimes I would find out that one of my sons had taken the book! Now I have whittled down the number of people I loan books to. One of those people even makes a list of what Iloan her and the date, and I've been told I should do that. I've been told I should write my name in my books, but I strongly feel that's defacing a book. (OK, I'm weird) However I have started putting a post-it note in each book. Yes, there have been several books that never were recovered and since I still wanted a copy I would buy another, loan it, and again, lose it. Sometimes I would end up buying several before one managed to stay on my shelves. However, here's another problem with beloved books. The older I get the more I feel the need to pare down my belongings as I feel sooner or later I'll have to possibly move to some sort of assisted living place, so I've been culling the shelves and passing them on to the Friends of the Library shop. Either way, lost or donated, I guess those books will bring someone joy on discovery.

Second Acts, huh? Ok, I'll look up the book. I've mostly been interested in presidential politics, more specifically the campaigns. I don't know if you've read Teddy White's Making of the President series? I haven't really been keeping track of presidents after their terms had expired. Well, that's not true -- I've always been interested in Nixon after '74. I'm not sure where I read it but yes, apparently Ford was quite surprised by the public's reaction. I still think it was the right thing to do for the sake of the office of the president. Nixon, as a person, may have been deserving of a hanging, drawing, and quartering but the damage such a fate would have on the office of the presidency would have been devastating. That's kind of why I was hoping Clinton's impeachment proceedings would crash and burn (and it did). I can see why ex-presidents would become friends. After all, they have a commonality of experience that very very few people would have. They can relate to one another. And, if they were political enemies and political contemporaries, then they would have even more commonality! I mean, c'mon -- Bush Sr. and Clinton would have tackled the same issues except that they would have been on opposite sides. This could be why Mary Matalin and James Carville got married..... And yes -- I'm sure Ford has repeatedly said there was no deal. But can you imagine the damage/uproar if Nixon HAD said that there WAS a deal and the Ford had reneged? At least Nixon kept his mouth shut after the pardon ...... Maybe that WAS the deal -- that Nixon would shut up and leave Ford alone in exchange for a pardon? Anyway, I'll have to look for that book. Thanks for recommending it!