"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." -- Aristotle

One of my former staff found and emailed me a document I'd used for years to orient new staff. It begins with the second sentence from Aristotle, above.

Excellence can usually be found in my long-standing habit of gardening. But the garden has really suffered from a lack of imagination the past four summers. I had eye surgery in 2006, right after we finished renovation of the house. I was so busy training for the 3 Day Walks in 2007 and 2008 that I just never added anything to the garden, and ended up pruning things at the wrong time of the year. This year is another story: I did fine in the spring, and in fact even planted some vegetables. But my train trip, followed by launch of my new firm, followed by foot surgery, followed by the heat wave, have left things woefully shaggy and neglected.

I am bringing in someone who has time to go through all the beds on three sides of the house and clean things out and prune or move stuff where appropriate. Help is on the way.