100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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Risk is the precursor to learning. You have to take a risk that you will learn something.

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I found a good quote today.

"Risk is the precursor to learning. Courage is the precursor of risk."

I find the preceeding quote to be very profound. "Just like the llamas that are cautious where they drink their water. So should humans, where they get there knowledge. Often humans emblazonly extoll truth that they obtained from a turbid pond."

Life is ok today, complex but ok. I mowed a couple of acres maybe, but the tractor is losing power after an hour. It is not water temp related. I have to do some research. The fields I mowed once last year are absolutely beautiful this year. They are all wildflowers. Some are green grasses, some are other colors and shapes. There are no weeds, only misplaced plants.

The weather this week has been fantastic. Today there was a huge barn fire in Triangle. The smoke went straight up and stayed there.

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