Quote of the Day

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

- Greek proverb

Comment by Fern Driscoll:

Chloe, we knew a wonderful couple in Norfolk, CT - she was a gardening fanatic. When they were in the early 80's they moved into a condo next to the Library, and she planted a little orchard in the back yard. "I'll never see it," she said, "but it will be nice for the next people." She died last year at 101 and her husband is still alive at 102 - and they enjoyed their orchard for many years.

Then there's the story of the beams in the refectory at one of the Oxford colleges: the Dean noticed that the huge and ancient beams had dry rot and went to the grounds keepers to ask what should be done. "No worries," the groundskeeper said, "they knew 300 years ago when they built that building that the beams would need to be replaced one day, so they planted the trees then. We can make similar beams and make the replacement immediately."