Fierce Food and Other Funny-Tasting Stuff: BioVlog 178 of 384
Jim and I head north to Sequoia National Park. Jim spots a small dead fish covered with ants. He says, challenging, “I’ll give you ten bucks if you eat that! Here’s the deal: if you barf, you owe me ten bucks!”
I gulp it down like a gumdrop, and snatch the ten-spot.
Wagers like this are a perpetual source of pocket money for me. However, it’s not the cash as much as it is a mental challenge, and the greater the challenge, the more invigorated I get.
Another wager centers on a cockroach and a live grasshopper. The roach is juicy, but the grasshopper is very bitter and needs ketchup. But, nevertheless, I again snatch the cash.
Mind you, as a consideration, I’m only sharing the feasting on the milder cases of fierce food consumption.
Filled with protein, I decide my next challenge is to touch the sky. I’m gonna climb one of these 200 foot Sequoia trees. The first branch is about ten feet from the ground. Using a rope (which we always carry) I muscle my way up. That first branch was scary just by itself but I blow out the fear, grab on, pull myself on top of it and start climbing. As I start shimmying my way up I yell back, “Jim, when I get to the top snap a picture.”
I start climbing and winding my way up and around the dozens and dozens of branches and get about 150 feet closer to the sky. I yell down to Jim, “I’m ready, snap a picture as I hang from the branch.”