What is a CD?

I’ve been thinking about my grandfather this week.

He used to sit “watching” TV while he was reading a book. He almost always had a book in his hand. When he was in the hospital, various people would bring him books so that he always had a new one to begin when the current one was finished. He really enjoyed Westerns but also enjoyed almost every genre – as long as it wasn’t too descriptive of war.

Sometimes I heard people ask him why he was always reading. He said that you have to keep your mind working so that it doesn’t deteriorate. If you keep learning, keep thinking, you keep your brain in shape.

When he was 79 or 80, I walked into the house one day. He gave me the look that said it was about time I showed up because he wanted to talk. I think he barely got past saying “Hi” before the question spilled out. “How does a CD work?” And he didn’t want the short explanation. He wanted to learn.

I suspect that if Grandpa wasn’t learning new things or pondering the depth of subjects whose surface he had already scratched, he would have become incredibly bored.

In the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to learn from others who have expertise in certain areas. Certainly I do not know the subject matter as well as those who have taken the time to explain concepts and processes, but it is fun to gain a small measure of understanding in those areas. I think I am beginning to understand why Grandpa always wanted to be learning.