谢谢...

...I am about 3/4 of the way through Mountain Home, a wonderful collection. I saw your post about Li Bo this morning but wasn't in a position to respond til now. That looks like a book worth reading, and your mention of the poetic use of Chinese calligraphy has me wondering if I could make a go of learning Chinese, not to speak, but to read.

I'm remembering a bright physics PhD student at U Chgo who was sharing an apartment with a friend of mine and one or two others back in the late 70s; one evening early in the school year we went over to Ida Noyes hall to see the various clubs and activities that had set up their booths and tables, motivated by a report that this event featured free noshes and fortified beverages.

One table was set up so that passersby could try their hand at calligraphy (not Chinese). The young lady behind the table asked our physics PhD if he'd like to try it, but he demurred, saying that it would take him too long to master it. It turned out that he really didn't have hobbies; in addition to physics, he played the trumpet, and very, very well; his approach to such activities was that if you couldn't devote the time to master it, it was not worth trying to do poorly. I tried it, which was in line with what has become a lifelong habit of dabbling at things but not really mastering much.

Late this afternoon, as I was placidly pushing 3 inches of snow from our driveway in the gradually growing gloamin', I wondered what poem Li Bo would have written about the scene...or would he have given up and gone inside for a glass of wine?