May 7, Chevy Chase, Md. More Friends.

Recently I read a book written by Joseph Epstein, called "Friendship". It is an easy read. He is a very good writer from Chicago and I like his writing very much. His name pops up in all sorts of places. It seemed to me that many of his friends were attached to the world of his work and that when he stopped working, the emails and invitations would cease. But as I am interested in the world of friends, I read it. He made an interesting point early in the book, that many folks he met and enjoyed never followed up with his invitation to meet for lunch. He was puzzled, because he felt that both parties enjoyed their conversation, and spoke about getting together. On reflection, he decided that the social calender was just too busy, and in order to get any real work done, all invitations had to ignored. Certainly makes sense. My friend Wendy, as she ages,has decided that she does not enjoy house guests, either at their Potomac House or in Nova Scotia. So they built a guest house for Family and friends, so her privacy stays intact, except for meals or visits. She also will only entertain those folks she loves. " Life is too short to pay attention to those folks I do not like", says Wendy. Age certainly has it's merits.

I have always wanted to live in New York for one music season. For this one season only I would attend every concert and opera. And I would throw in a play on a day without a concert. Of course I would live downtown Manhattan and walk to the Lincoln Center and eat every meal out so as not to cook. Just one season is what I want. I love to read the New York chronicle by Jay Nordlinger, in The New Criterion. He reviews the events of the past month, and tells me who has sung and played and conducted. I live vicariously though him and envy every word. I feel so stupid too. He writes about these wonderful musicians, and I have never heard of them. We have not planned a stay in New York for the season, and we probably never will. I think you have to be much wealthier than us to live in New York and attend all the concerts. But I would love to do it, some day.

The New Criterion is a wonderful magazine, because the articles have lots of topics that I know nothing about. I have always suffered by the lack of a classical education, and I have been trying to play catch up all my life. This May issue has a special section on Education, specifically a liberal education, so I will read it with gusto on the plane to Texas. Both Ken and I took professional degrees, as we needed to make our money, but we made sure the boys went to a small liberal arts college in order to get a good base of knowledge prior to going on to a professional degree. Of course, Lincoln only went to one year of school ever in his life, and he certainly made up his deficiencies by reading. And a cousin who never went to college is the best educated person I know, because he felt he had to make up for his lack of an education. So I guess it is laziness on my part. But however it happened, I have huge gaps in my knowledge, and the little magazine helps to fill in those gaps.