Oh, that sounds wild and wonderful. Great swim, really challenging ride, and you smooched animals and babies on the run! What more is there for a good life, I ask you?
Really, TriGirl. That sounds like it was a blast. And I'm glad you got through the "Oog, do I really have to get back in spandex?" thing.
"My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks