“Your life is weird!”

That was my wife’s assessment yesterday after what she’s experienced accompanying me for over thirty years and had just experienced during a nice little walk we had on a nearby mountain.  It’s one of those stories that is much more funny afterwards, particularly if there’s a point in the story where the situation could either go very badly or turn out OK.  In the end, we were fine.  However, at the time my wife was wondering how I was going to get us through it.  All part of the weird life I’ve led and have been loved through by an amazing woman.

We were hiking on a mountain surrounded by lush cloud forest when an angry man with six angry dogs came riding up to us on a horse with a machete handing from his belt.  Back home I’d compare him to an old hermit in the hollars of Appalachia pointing a shotgun our way.  Turns out he insisted we were on private property and it wasn’t clear what his intentions were.  Keeping the story short, after an hour of using all the limited Spanish and understanding of human nature I have, we made a good friend who has invited us back anytime, even to go camping on the mountainside. Cathi’s summary after he made a special trip and dropped us off at our house: Life with me has been, is, and probably always will be weird.