Little Johnny

I marvel at how solving problems makes such a big difference in my life.  I still laugh at my  belief that I might be able to get out of things without experiencing any problems.  Getting through challenging things has done so much more to shape my character than getting what I want.  

My friend, Little Westside Johnny, is coming for a visit.  Maybe my Old City sponsor is sending him out to spy on me;  given my history of lies and deception a little checking-up isn't a terrible idea.  It's more likely that no one else is thinking about me at all.  This seems about right when I consider how much time I spend thinking about myself.  It really isn't necessary for anyone else to waste any of their time pondering my circumstances.  

Little Johnny and I did some pretty extensive traveling together in the day.  We were reminiscing about a few of the more memorable trips, one being to a country in the Middle East that was a few ticks past our comfort zone - we didn't see another foreigner the entire time and the tourist infrastructure was sketchy at best.  We followed that up with a visit to a remote, remote camp in the Ecuadorean Amazon.   We were out there.  It took many hours by plane, jeep, and dugout canoes to get where we ended up.

These weren't comfortable trips in a physical sense and they were emotionally draining as well.  We both experienced anxiety attacks.  Yet both of us agree that these may be the two best vacations that we ever took.  With the stress and the overcoming of the stress came intense satisfaction.  We achieved something - we got somewhere.

Also, some of the greatest lines in my life came out of these trips.

Little Westside Johnny, bent over, gasping for air, ankle deep in mud and swamp water, gobbling Hostess cinnamon buns and pretzels in a desperate attempt to consume enough calories to keep up with all of our much younger comrades: "I'd give up my entire 401K to get airlifted out of here."