Short Breaks 1-20 - Complete

The Listening of Dr. Asimov

Welcome! May my friend pour you some tea? Yes? Wonderful! I think a good story always deserves tea.

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Being able to talk to gravetrees leads to a different life. Not everyone is able to listen and hear the trees speak of their dead. I feel very blessed to have discovered this talent when I was about eleven; I first heard the tree that had, by happenstance, bonded with my grandfather. That day was pretty interesting, as you might imagine, but I've already told you that story.

Today, I want to tell you about when I listened to the gravetree of Isaac Asimov. Of course, everyone knows that this pairing, much like my grandfather, was quite by accident; Dr. Asimov's wife happened to scatter his ashes around a great tree that then bonded with him. It is said to be one of the most famous ironies... he'd not wanted to be memorialized.

His family, much to our gratitude, continues to allow the tree to live on. They even allow for a listening on rare occasions, one for which I was selected early in my career. It's the listening that "put me on the map", so to speak.

As was the standard, the money raised by a public listening was split fifty/forty-five/five between the National Graveforest Foundation (NGF), the family, and myself. I am pleased to say that his family generously donated their portion of the monies to the American Museum of Natural History, of which he, and his wife Janet, were staunch supporters.

Part of my payment for listening, was that, for every question asked by someone, I got to ask one of my own, if I wished. I typically saved mine for closer to the end when the attendees began to run out of their own. We spent a pleasant afternoon and evening interviewing the tree. I learned a great deal about one of my most favorite authors; I am indeed blessed by my talent.

Of course, his fans wanted to know things like which of his books were his favorite. I asked the tree. It answered, The Gods Themselves, and the audience applauded.

They had forgotten that you must ask specifically what you want to know, so I asked the follow-up question of why was it his favorite. The answer was an example of his sense of humor: It is my favorite, mostly because of the middle section, which includes non-humans and sex. I wrote it just to prove a point; that I could.

A great many questions were asked that afternoon, but probably the one that stuck out in my mind the most was about his views on God. His reply? I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.

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Is our time up for the day? It would seem so. No matter; come back tomorrow and I will continue. I wish to tell you more about Dr. Asimov.