Glancing out the window I can see the subjects and eventual victim of this inquiry

dangerously perched in the crotch of an old chestnut tree about 15 feet

above the ground.

Should I rush out and tell him to get down,

or should I let him be hoping that he won't climb any higher,

or if he does climb any higher,

hoping that he will not fall. It is probably all right so I shall not

bother him. Tree climbing is one of the things he has learned all by himself. There

aren't many things he will have the fun of learning all by himself.

Most of the things he is going to learn will be hammered into him.

Latin and history and grammar and mathematics up to the binomial theorem.

I'm not worried about his progress up the

latter from high school or boarding school to college and from college to law school or

medical school. It seems incredible that the young biped now perched in the chestnut tree will someday without

stupendous effort on my part or on his eventually graduate from college or even

become a PhD but he will almost certainly. The strictly educational side of his life, once he gets

his hands firmly on the lowest rung of that ancient ladder, will take care of itself.

What concerns me is something entirely different, a good deal more like tree climbing.

I have never heard of a school or a college that gave a course in tree climbing and human life is full of useful

accomplishments and rewarding experiences like tree climbing, like making a speech for example

or being able to take care of oneself on a camping trip.

Abilities that seem to me at least as valuable as a knowledge of conjugations and the dates of battles.

...