"What you help a child to love, can be more important than what you help him to learn. "
African proverb
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| AE at Caltech |
On our recent spring break I saw lots of inspiring things: strangers banding together to soothe a crying baby after a flight delay; T and F skiing in that poignantly beautiful way they do; a person handing out free smores by the pool; and just when I thought we as a species were not all that bad- we toured Caltech. And now I am in love.
Caltech is just a dazzling, giddy display of truth seeking nerd-dom- and I mean that in the best way. It's as if they handed out keys to the students and said "Go forth! Run! and with these keys open every golden surprise you can. Oh and here is a tequila shot first."
It's like a science mad house, and all three of us fell hard. It's the home of the two physicists who discovered the ninth planet; as well as the physicist (AKA the Pluto killer) who demoted our previous ninth planet. On it's tiny campus, one trips over Nobel prize winners- but not over football players or girls in bikinis. And yet, young F had stars in his eyes. It is an oasis of discovery and camaraderie and respect; but with palm trees.
That's the only way I can describe it.
Alas, it is tiny by university standards, so they won't exactly be waiting for our call in two years. I was just gratified to know that Frederick responded as he did; that he seems to love the heavens and its mysteries enough to ignore a very bad basketball team (On that note you all must, must watch the movie Quantum Hoops- about the Caltech basketball team.)
The contrast between these happy worker bees peering under every rock in the universe, with the sack of lies in our white house, couldn't be more striking- or inspiring. I so want to be on the side of the seekers.....the radical truth tellers ...the large hearted.
The cool crowd.
In other news, to avoid the stress of Russia and Russian related events; I say go back to nature with a cookie. MMB brought this old photograph of me the other night- and I simply love everything about it- I love West Marin: I love the California live Oak and the wild dry grass; I love the sound of the ocean in the distance; I love the freckles on my nose; I love the hard oatmeal cookies in my backpack- the ones my father brought on every picnic...the ones I haven't eaten since he died.
