When I think of perspective, I am often reminded of a conversation between me and my son in the summer he turned four. That spring, Mark had asked for a spot in the family garden to call his own. He turned the soil, broke the clumps, and planted his favorite vegetable corn. Toward the middle of July, Mark was concerned that his corn was not growing fast enough. I tried to reassure him that the corn was doing just fine by quoting him the familiar benchmark used by farmers, "Knee high by the fourth of July."

My lesson came with his retort: "My knees or yours?"