Dear Marion,

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and
the word was God." St. John's introduction to his gospel, - In the
beginning, - is also an account of creation and as such is
strictly analogous to the myths of Genesis.  I understand St. John
to have been a disciple of Plato as much as of Jesus; his account
of the origin of the world strikes me as the Platonization of
Judaism. A cynic (like EJM) might point out that the johannine
cosmogony was finally brought to fruition when Charles Darwin
recreated the world out of (scientific) logic.

Our discussion of the meaning of money brings to mind a wonderful
book by Georg Simmel, a German Jewish author, - who else "Die
Philosophie des Geldes." I know exactly where on my bookshelves
it sits, and every few years I refresh my memory. Simmel points
out that money is an instrument that creates freedom, liberating
its users from the bondage entailed in the need to provide
reciprocal services.

You misunderstand when you interpret my collecting real estate
as a form of boasting or as an exhibition of power. The accumulation
reflects my reluctance ever to abandon a house or a landscape that
has become part of my life, hence part of me. The house in Konnarock
has now served as a mirror of my life for fifty-eight years, the
house in Belmont for forty-seven, and the Nantucket land for thirty-
nine years.

Believe it or not, I'm too tired to continue. I'll be up at 6 a.m.
to drive Klemens to the hospital, then at 8:30, I have an 
appointment with a roofer, who offers to repair the leaks that
have developed on the 2nd and third floors. Beyond that, there's
more paperwork, but at this juncture I can't remember what it
might be.

Good night.

Jochen