I suppose it wasn’t heaven, but what a foretaste! Dear old friends and one new one, traveling past my home, stopped by for an evening that lasted into the night. One sang to us songs he had written, one gave an impromptu speech, I told some bad jokes and read a bad poem and showed off my tomato plants, we analyzed songs and a poem, argued about free verse, ate a ham dinner (thank you, Christ), and talked about how to teach, how children learn, how Adam must have named the animals, and anything else that came up.
It reminded me of my favorite passage in Plato’s Republic:
What, said Thrasymachus, do you suppose these men have come here now to look for fool’s gold and not to listen to arguments?
Yes, [Socrates] said, but in due measure.
For intelligent men, Socrates, said Glaucon, the proper measure of listening to such arguments is a whole life.
Or about the apocalyptic ending of all things in a wedding feast!
Thank you David, Bill, Aaron, Melody, and Jenny (and all your spouses for letting you come!) for letting me feast with you. I love you all. I can’t wait to see you all again.
