First class of the year, Mrs. Voight [a biology teacher I had in the eighth grade, another dutiful demystifier, inveterate empiricist, and wearer of sensible shoes] announced, in a smug tone of voice striving for the matter-of-fact, that a human being was nothing more than a collection of chemicals that could be had from a biological supply company for approximately four dollars. Why so cheap? Because we were 95 percent water, with the rest consisting of relatively common forms of carbon. I knew that day that, even if Mrs. Voight was right, she wsa not going to teach me anuthing I needed to know.
Everything that lives is 95 percent water. Genius is 95 percent perspiration, 5 percent inspiration. Success is 95 percent hard work. Okay, I get it, but what about that 5 percent? Tell me watermelon is 99 percent water and you still haven't told me anything interesting - like, what about the 1 percent? Because chances are that's where you're going to find the watermelon…
I've had occasion to observe something else in good gardeners, a certain touch, an empathy for their plants, a sense of their soil more subtle and complete than any lab report's. There are things they know I can't find in books. It's the difference between the well-trained musician and the maestro, the water and the watermelon. It's that unaccountable 5 percent.
