Letters to the Grandchildren

While writing these essays both of my parents died. When I read that Cicero had left his son a series of brief personal letters I was disappointed that my parents had not done something similar. That''s when I decided to learn from the sin of their omission and salt away some of my essays in a book. Arthur Schopenhauer said that given our three score and ten allotment a wise division would be forty years devoted to the text and thirty to the commentary. My division thus far has been rather less balanced--sixty-five for the text and six for the commentary but at least I''ve managed to get a few things in print before shuffling off to Buffalo dragging my mortal coil. To switch the metaphor I''ve spent the last six years unpeeling a very large onion. In the process I''ve cut my fingers numerous times and occasionally brought tears to my eyes but once sautéed with a little butter the result I think is a palatable dish. Guten Appetit! --Skip Eisiminger