March 4, 2013
My grandfather, who had just turned eighty-six, passed away this weekend. If you know me at all you’ve heard me remark upon his fearsome intellect, groundbreaking scientific research and strange, contradictory persona. Whatever his own accomplishments, however, he cared most about the family itself carrying the torch of enlightenment. He was fond of mentioning Penstemon rattani var. kleei, a perennial herb that only grows in California—this variety having been cataloged by Waldemar G. Klee, a Danish ancestor who discovered it while working for Berkley’s Department of Agriculture in 1883. That was typical, I think, of his empirical mind, which everywhere sought order, and saw true progress as methodical and slow. You couldn’t just rush into the world. First the flowers had to have names.          

My grandfather, who had just turned eighty-six, passed away this weekend. If you know me at all you’ve heard me remark upon his fearsome intellect, groundbreaking scientific research and strange, contradictory persona. Whatever his own accomplishments, however, he cared most about the family itself carrying the torch of enlightenment. He was fond of mentioning Penstemon rattani var. kleei, a perennial herb that only grows in California—this variety having been cataloged by Waldemar G. Klee, a Danish ancestor who discovered it while working for Berkley’s Department of Agriculture in 1883. That was typical, I think, of his empirical mind, which everywhere sought order, and saw true progress as methodical and slow. You couldn’t just rush into the world. First the flowers had to have names.          

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  1. barrettholcomb reblogged this from thenotes
  2. travel-through-mountains reblogged this from thenotes and added:
    Couldn’t have said it better myself. To the smartest man I knew- we love you, Grandpa.
  3. thenotes posted this
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