I have been arrested, have had cell phones and iPods, have fallen in love, and while never having escaped from a sunken sub, I have escaped from an empty SCUBA rig at forty feet below the rolling Pacific. I've had wisdom teeth, adenoids and attitudes extracted, have slept on the street and in mansions. I don't recall painting my toenails, but I have worn a dress once, for a very short time. I've had progeny, blasphemy and adultery; I have flown the air, sailed deep blue water, dived the shallows and slept on the earth and dug under it. I have been hit by a cop and kissed by a maiden, and have been stony broke and well-to-do. I have driven over 100 mph.

I didn't make Woodstock, but I made the Newport Folk festival just before that.

So I am hard put to know what I have missed, except for war. I have never fired a gun in anger, taken a human life, committed rape or any other major felonies. I have never fired a heavy weapon or sunk a ship. I have not rounded the Horn or traveled physically at Mach 1. I have not been aloft in a balloon, hang glider, or dirigible.

I have not played Madison Square Garden or a thousand other great places, but I did sing in the Central Park open auditorium one night. And although I have always been a little bit wild, I have never gone mad. Not sriously, I mean...

I guess I haven't missed much -- just enough to keep me curious.


A