Yesterday I saw my 75 year old neighbor making a slow climb up a hill in the open parkland. He had a cane and a chair in one hand, a model airplane with a three foot wingspan in the other. Every ten feet or so, he stopped to rest.

I hurried to catch up. “Hi Jim. How ’bout I carry that chair for you?”
He agreed that would be a good idea. “I see you’re getting out with one of your planes.” I had admired the model airplanes that filled his garage, apparent remnants from a hobby that had been left behind years before.

He explained his quest by quoting some Chinese wisdom — whether ancient or contemporary I do not know. “I got a fortune cookie that said, ‘Don’t let what you can’t do, prevent you from doing what you can.'”

We continued our climb up the hill.