Friday, February 20, 2009

we're all mad here

My father was a test pilot and left the following quote on the chalkboard at work in 1977.

"I don't much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. "What sort of people live about here?"
"In THAT direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction," waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Later that day he crashed his plane and died.

1 comment:

CSTS said...

I feel his pain with what he wrote on the board. I want to meet him and give him a hug. His cooking, his creativity, his meticulousness, his woodworking are now in you. I wish he had known how to fight and win. I wish he had had someone believe in him.