Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Taste of Autumn

A friend of over forty years emailed me yesterday to "check all was well". Nothing strange there, that's what friends do. John was concerned that he had not heard from me for a while and that this blog had not been updated lately. My apologies to John and my apologies to you. I admit I've been a little lazy with my "correspondence" lately. I have excuses of course, but not really valid ones. In this age of lightening communication, there can be no excuses. We still have to make the effort - technology, as wonderful as it is, cannot do it for us (yet).

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the trustees of my pension fund. Basically, they wanted to know if I was still alive! At first I felt rather indignant, but on reflection realized that they had every right to inquire. After all, I hadn't lived in England for nearly ten years let alone seen any of them. The staff at my doctor's office found it amusing when signing the form - "you look alive to us!"

A few days later I attended the funeral of a dear friend. At 91 he had lived a very active life to the last.

I guess my point is that I'm reminded of that old proverb "never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." If it was good enough for Thomas Jefferson, it is certainly good enough for me.

Mind you, Mark Twain said "Never put off until tomorrow what you do the day after tomorrow."

As much as I admire Mark Twain, I think Jefferson got it right!