THE PRICE OF PRIVACY: OUTDOOR DIVISION

Every year on this day, I experience great joy and a some sorrow.  Two of the dearest (to me) people in the world were born this day and someone who became important in my life died this day.

Very, very privately I always visit the deceased's grave site to pay my respects.  Even my family and staff don't know when I'm going.

Well, this year, there was a new twist.  The Cemetery was totally snowbound.  I parked my car and made the modest (if I had snowshoes) walk to the grave.  When I had concluded my visit, I started to walk back to my car.  It suddenly dawned on me that I was rapidly moving West but my car was South.  An ample portion of some relatively black ice was under the snowpack and I was movin' downhill at a steep clip.  As my left foot came completely out from under me, I cleverly figured out that I was probably going to crash at the bottom of a hill.  My brain went into fast forward and brilliantly reported that my mobile phone was safely, and uselessly, on the dash of my car.

In other words, if I fell down and broke an ankle, they'd find the body next time they plowed the cemetery.  Powered, no doubt, by sheer, dumb luck, I managed to get both feet back onto the WD-40 surface and slide, without incident, to the bottom of the hill and sidestepped to the car.

Moral of Story one:  Take your cell phone when you go winter trekking.

Moral of Story Two:  Old Farts and children should tell folks where they are going to be.  We need adult supervision.