Roads Less Traveled

Damajaqua Cascades-the last stunt for “Poppy”

“Go for it, Poppy! Just put your hand in the hole and climb up!” It’s bad enough that my Dominican Republic guides, who say they have adopted me as family, have chosen to call me “Poppy”, the old guy. But to make it worse, not only am I in fact the old guy, I have failed to summit the slippery slope above, which, as the guide insists, does feature a laughably small pocket that would be a suitable grip if I were a lemur, but I can’t see that so well since I am climbing, face up, through a waterfall, and my knee, which contains more metal than a Smart car, is telling me that I’m too old for this, or even for walking on most days.

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