I came across a picture the other day that is in Photo Gallery on our website. In it I am in a yellow T-shirt with my hiking gear on.

Lucinda and I were on a hike, in the rugged and beautiful Pecos Wilderness, the Sangre de Christo Mountains, near Santa Fe.

That is Santa Fe Baldy (12,600 feet) behind me. I am standing near Deception Peak (12,200 feet). We made it to the top.

What you see in that picture is a happy, physically fit, middle-aged man doing what he loves to do best with the person he loves to do things with best. She took the picture.

Within two days of the taking of that picture, Lucy and I had both been infected with the plague. Within one week of the taking of that picture, I was given a one percent chance to live through the night.

The purpose of this is to exhort each of you to live this day as though it may be your last. Tomorrow may never come. Never pass up the opportunity to pet your dog, talk to an old friend, or play catch with your kid.

In the meantime, we have discovered the secret of life: Air goes in and out. Blood goes round and round. Any variation on this theme is not desirable.

Love from your old friends, the Tull-Dog (Still alive!) and the lovely Lucinda