Thursday night, after taking Flo out to dinner, we came home to find the latest issue of Outside Magazine sitting on our doorstep. BirdBrain, my source for free magazines (as rakkity is my source for free books), thought I’d be especially interested in this issue because its articles focus on friendships.

The Buddy System
We aren’t asking you to hold hands and tell each other how you feel. But admit it: when you’re stuck under a leaky rain fly with nothing but a wet pack of matches and your own soggy thoughts, solitaire loses its appeal. Call them your posse, your entourage, whatever—but know that the best friendships in life are forged in the wild and on the road. In the pages that follow, Outside celebrates the power of two—or, if you can’t stand to be nice, the joys of a really bad feud.

I flipped through the pages to get a sense of who wrote what, and was relieved to find my favorite writer, Mark Jenkins, featured in his own column – ” The Hard Way.” Every few months he’s off risking his life, gathering material, and I have to suffer through a guest writer. Like listening to Bob Oaks instead of Tom Ashbrook.

Sadly, this happens to be his final article. “After seven years, this will be the last Hard Way column. It has been an incomparable journey, but it’s time for me to embark on other writing adventures.” I think he left us with his best, kinda like a walk-off home run. If you read it (Adam), don’t skim.

Above and Beyond