On aging

Before I head down to lunch, I wanted to share something I read today in an article on "Old Masters" people 80 or over who, instead of retiring, are tops in their field. (Sorry, can't find the link to the article on the Times's website.) It's a quotation from T.H. White's The Once and Future King, Merlin talking to the young Arthur:

"You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics or know you honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then -- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting."

And here are some wonderful pictures from 8.Apr.2013, which apparently a very cold day since that's the only time you'll see these two together.