Husbandrying

Fathering is separate from husbanding, although very often they are thrown together. For example, Stephen Fried's new book, Husbandry, is a collection of men-women essays for Ladies Home Journal and has no time for discussions of children as author and wife share none.

But that does not mean he has nothing to say on the subject of fathers and sons. It's just that you have to look elsewhere to find it, such as in his book, The New Rabbi, which germinated as he found "his" religion during, but mostly in the aftermath of his father's dying of cancer. It was in that, and in dealing with a rabbi who's father's death affected him dramatically that he found himself searching for comfort and definitions of his own loss.

As for the subject of "husbandry," it has also been defined, intriguingly enough, as a subject for a woman to study on how to please the master. Although it is better known as the mating of the animals — leading back to the oft-made observation of previous posts that the ability to rut and sire doth not the daddy-o make.

** To draw with some snark from religion, there is a reason the divine trinity is not "husband," son and holy ghost. **