One spring in New Hampshire, our teacher brought in the sap of a Maple tree growing in his neighbor's yard, sap which had been sugared into syrup the day before. He passed it around, in an unlabelled glass jar, and we all drank from it and talked about writing, and our relationship to the land.
This morning I was asked why it is easier for men to part with women than for women to part with men. We ate pancakes covered with the sugared sap of a Maple tree.
". . . as if that were where the true burden of his life's meaning lay."
The Astros have been in even worse shape, using three starters with less than two years of major-league experience. Signing Clemens to go with right-hander Roy Oswalt and left-hander Andy Pettitte again gives them a legitimate Big Three once again. If Clemens, after several minor-league tuneups, proves anywhere near as good as he was last season, he will give the team precisely the lift it needs.