Jane, great piece. I would add to this, and this is just me, the deeply important element of humor. You may well have assumed this as a part of character, but for my two cents ( which no longer buys bubble gum) humor greases the skids, helps me make may through the inevitable insults of an aging body, and by God gives me one hell of a lot of article fodder. To wit: yesterday morning I woke up in a small tent not far from the Western Mongolian city of Olgi ( spelling not correct), on an open plain. I’d made the tactical error if putting my dentures in a cup of water for the night. Needless to say that, along with every other slightly moist thing in my tent, my teeth were suspended in a solid block of ice. My face wipes were a brick, and I had to nestle that goddamn cup of ice next to my stomach so that I wouldn’t scare the living shit out of my guides. That’s just FUNNY. We leave for the Eagle Festival today, and last night I by God put my teeth in my down coat pocket. Fuzzy, but warm. To me, this is a huge part of thrival.