shout-out to Rico

A big public thank-you to Rico, the CouchSurfer who took me in for two nights. Rico's a man of many talents: he's an outdoorsman, well-read in almost all the subjects covered by the Dewey decimal system, and because he's an REI employee, he was the perfect person to tell me what was going right and what was going wrong with my equipment. He took me to the REI flagship store in Seattle (no way I could have limped there and back in a single day) and helped me with my purchases.

Rico's got a background in debate and rhetoric; he's an interesting fellow to talk with on almost any topic because his training helps him to see both sides of a given issue very quickly (though Rico usually has a specific opinion). At one point we discussed religious pluralism, and here again I wish I'd had my voice recorder with me. We also talked about abortion, superhero mythology, "The Matrix" and its disappointing sequels (Rico contends "The Matrix" was basically philosophical, whereas I see it as a religious film cloaked in cyberpunk tropes that also deals with philosophical problems; upon hearing this, Rico rightly noted that philo and religion tend to go hand in hand), and a host of other topics.

Rico says he used to speak fluent Spanish. He's also in the midst of translating Aristotle's Poetics from ancient Greek into modern English-- just to keep his skills up!

Rico very generously offered to let me stay a third night given the condition of my feet (yep, still bad), but I've discovered that those trekking poles, which make a person looked like some stilty quadruped monster from the Star Wars films, are a godsend when your feet are too tender to take much pressure. So I've been walking slowly but steadily from Kent to Auburn (about 6.3 miles), and while m'dogs are still groaning in pain, they're not in the agony they were in yesterday.

Anyway, many thanks to Rico for his generosity. Truly a gentleman and a scholar.


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