los angeles county arboretum and botanic garden

Many years ago, shortly after I came to San Diego, I signed on as a consultant working in the wireless telecommunications industry. We built cell sites so your cell phone would work, and for that I apologize. Of course, if I didn’t do it, someone else would have….

I had been with the company just a couple of months when everyone from around the nation flew to Boulder, Colorado, for a team weekend. During that weekend, I won a $100 gift certificate for meeting the most people and having them sign my team book as proof. I was also asked by the company to talk on fire….

Wait! What?

Yep, they asked me to walk on fire. I could not convince myself to do it. Purposefully walking on fire is kind of like purposefully inhaling smoke into your lungs. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Out of more than 500 people, though, there were only about 30 of us who declined the experience.

Last year when I was at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden, I was in the eucalyptus forest when I came upon a walkway that begged me NOT to walk on it. Everyone else, of course, was walking on it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe walking on walkways is natural, but walking on this one just seemed wrong.

Here are some pictures of what I chose NOT to walk on: