Ten things I’ve done that you probably haven’t:
- At the tender age of three, had measles and chicken pox at the very same time, thus embarking on my Life of Danger.
- Ate lunch with the mountain gorillas in Zaire. They had better table manners than your average teenager, although, strictly speaking, there was no table, just bamboo and mud.

- Took third place in the toy parade competition in third grade for my doll Elizabeth who wore a blue dotted Swiss dress to match my own.
- Rode shotgun on a 4-seater airplane circling Denali, the highest point in North America.
- Ate a bologna sandwich on white bread at the southernmost point of the U.S., Ka Lae, Hawaii.
- Rode a rickety bus to the northernmost point of the U.S. in Barrow, Alaska (are you sensing an obsession? It’s Rick’s, and I just go along for the rides).
- Saw Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Elvis live in concert (not at the same time).
- Won an “I danced with Ellen” t-shirt for my awesome(ly bad) dancing at the Ellen DeGeneres show.
- Told an “iffy” joke to a United States Supreme Court Justice and received a tiny, tight smile in return. Later, became BFF with same, after reliving respective girlhood days in The Wild West.
- Eight years old, ate 14 just-picked peaches in one sitting, and if they tasted that good, would do it again right now.
Thanks for today’s blog, Melissa! How about the rest of youse guys answering this?
I may be sporadically blogging the next 10 days or so, because we will be travelling. Neighbors on all sides are vying for chicken-sitting duties, but Margarita (Not Her Real Name) will be doing it, since she is the chickens’ Auntie. Some of them may even lay their first eggs for her, but I will be taking names and punishing any who do.