Risk Aversion

#reverb13 Day 5: What was the greatest risk you took in 2013? 

1965. Follow the Leader.

 I'm on the right; no way I’m going higher up that deadfallen tree.

•

The Walter Mitty in me drives a Jeep Wrangler, while wearing an LL Bean henley, jeans, and Lucchese boots, but I am the definition of risk aversion; I cannot swim, I abhor heights, I’m agoraphobic, and don’t even get me started on angora sweaters. I love the outdoors, but have never slept in a tent, and never will. Each of my three brothers has built a racecar; I only know where to pump the gasoline. As a teenager in Air Force boot camp, with an M-16, I hit the target 96 out of 100 shots, but did not tell the drill sergeant that I dropped four of my shells, and they rolled down the embankment. My idea of a risk is creating a portmanteau, and I’m taking a risk that you will still believe my true stories when these secrets are out.

•