Longtime readers of these posts know that I have long been a member of a men’s book club in Connecticut. More recently, along with some friends who live near my primary home in one of New York City’s suburbs, I have started a second, similar group. The first meeting of the newer group was just a few nights ago; the book we discussed was Lincoln at Gettysburg – The Words That Remade America by Garry Wills.

It’s a worthwhile book – to begin with, it draws our attentions back to the Gettysburg Address, surely one of the greatest speeches ever given. If, like yours truly, you had largely forgotten the genius of Lincoln’s words, you can reread them here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address)...

Two days ago I slipped in some mud while carrying my kayak up a hill. I caught myself, but in doing so I seem to have hurt something deep in my right shoulder. Since then the right side of my torso has ached.

This morning, at the suggestion of my Beloved Spouse, I went outside to sit in the hot tub by our pool. I am not really a hot tub guy – I have probably used it a dozen times in as many years – but she thought the heat and bubble jets might help lessen my shoulder pain.

So I sat in the steaming water under a steel-gray sky; to my surprise, my thoughts turned to an old friend.

***

Doug and I went to boarding school together. We got to know each other through rowing; he was a big, athletic guy – a gentle giant. Though we were two years apart, we became fast friends.

For we were nur...