17 Comments

I’m sorry for the loss of your brother. You both must have been nurtured by someone who shared a love of adventure and storytelling with you.

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Thanks for your condolences. I think our taste for adventure travel grew out of our Boy Scout experience. Only later in life did I discover the pleasure of telling stories.

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I always enjoy your newsletter. Thank you, Walter.

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I am pleased, Janisse.

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Wow! I am amazed at your resilience, especially physical, but also mental. Even a major mishap doesn't deter a determined adventurer.

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Aw shucks, it was just a scratch.... but what are you going to do? Roll over and play dead? Then again, resilience overlaps a lot with being dense. My story may seem to contradict it, but physical competence has always been important to me, falling off cliffs notwithstanding.

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As a former OLLI student and member of the men’s group (my wife and I moved to VA about a year ago) we have continued to enjoy Walter’s essays. What a story you have relayed here. My wife forwarded it on to friends who were former PC volunteers in Niger and I spent time neighboring Mali. Thanks again.

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You are welcome!

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Brilliant travelogue!! 👏

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Thank you, Baird.

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Thanks!

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It's wonderful to read about this gripping adventure from the dual perspectives of you and Henri. Thanks so much for sharing these amazing details. From our many subsequent hikes over rugged and sometimes hazardous terrain, I can testify that you didn't let the fall get you down for long.

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There was a lesson in this experience, and even I wasn't dense enough to ignore it.

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Totally engrossing story. My wife treated me similarly after a wilderness mishap that sent me to a hospital and x-rays.

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Yeah, wives lack a sense of humor, don't they?

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Well they can lack it- on what they consider bottom line issues, but around the edges, they can be witty, snarky, vulgar, or simply silly by turns. When I was on a gurney recently, being wheeled into a hospital, my wife walking alongside, I made some crack like ""I guess no marathons for me today!". I thought it very funny. She sure didn't.

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Like I said...

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