7 Oh

 Well, that time has come--I've hit the big 7-0.  Frankly, I'm surprised I survived this long.

Could've killed myself a couple dozen times with all the crazy mountaineering and rockclimbing adventures I've been on.  My record was a 110' slide on Glacier Point Apron.  Spent a bitter cold night on Blanca Peak after I donated my down parka to Larry, who had just survived a 500' ride in a wet slab avalanche.  A 300 lb. boulder missed me by inches and slammed into Ken Ewing behind me on our belay ledge.  

Then I traveled internationally to more than a few places that were terrorist targets.  Had dinner at a restaurant in Ankara only to have it blown up a day later (there's a story here).  Hosted a training workshop for the IAEA in Mumbai a month before some crazies from Pakistan raided the harbor and torched the Taj Hotel.  Deb, Rebecca, and I had just had drinks there, admiring the Gates of India out the window.  Dodged events in Cairo and Amman, slid past protests in Vienna, but had a grand time in Venice for Carnival, twice. 

It's been a wild ride.