What have you done in the last 1460 days?

It's hard to believe that as of this week I've lived in New Orleans for four years.  Four years.  The time has absolutely flown by. What have I done with myself over the last 1460 or so days?  In trying to think of things, it's amazing how some of the little actions or seemingly trivial events stick out as memories.  Here are a few of things I've gotten into; good, bad, big, and small.

I've jumped out of a perfectly good plane, strapped to the chest of a sick fat guy.  

I've hiked to the crater of a volcano.  

I've gone on a helicopter ride.  I've also sat around nervously as somebody tried to fix a warning light on said helicopter.  

I've watched a pod of dolphins swim by from an offshore oil platform.  

I've watched dueling street jazz bands get broken up by the police.  

I've seen four Mardis Gras in the best Mardi Gras city in the US.

I've stayed up all night counting cards in a dozen casinos across three states

I've convinced a girl to move away from home to a city she'd never been to.  One Thanksgiving morning I left her a series of cards in various places.  A year and a half later, she married me.  

I read through 1800 pages of material and took three exams to get professionally accredited.  

I've built miniature siege weaponry that sits on my bookshelf.

I've watched a city evacuate for a hurricane.  I stayed, and had friends visit.  We stayed up all night as it approached and went for a swim at sunrise. 

I've watched locals pull alligators out of the swamp with their bare hands. 

I've flown home for two funerals.

I've gotten lost in huge above ground cemeteries.

I bought my first new car, but I still drive the truck I've had since I was 16. 

I've eaten insects baked into cookies and mixed into salsa.

I've seen live jazz from a old establishment with a dirt floor. 

I've been around when my alma mater lost a national championship to the local team. 

I've witnessed an entire city's euphoria as their team won the Super Bowl. 

I've watched baseball, basketball, and football games from posh suites.

I've used a camera to get me into countless places I'd never otherwise get to see. 

I've helped tear apart rotting houses, and helped build new ones. 

I've taken boat rides with mountains of dead Christmas trees so I could throw them into a bayou. 

I've been the best man in a wedding.

I've walked the entire Freedom Trail, and had a conversation with an old Bostonian named Sweet Lonnie.

I've helped move huge amounts of dirt.

I've ran 13.1 miles without stopping.

I've tried over 150 different beers. 

I've gotten two new cats, and seen one sort of old one, and one not old at all die. 

I've danced to old vinyl on dusty wooden floors.  Well, my version of dancing anyway.

I've watched the few close friends I've made here move away.  

I've watched old close friends grow, change, and stay the same.

I've had dozens of people sleep on my couch or one of the four air mattresses that I've been through. (Cats are a natural predator of inflatable objects)

I've watched thousands of men and women in red dresses run by in the rain.  

I've flown home to surprise my dad on his birthday.

I've been to festivals celebrating jazz, rock, tomatoes, oysters, a sandwich, the French Quarter, seafood, zydeco, crawfish, Greeks, and whatever else I can't remember.

I've watched a field full of hot air balloons light up the night.

I've collected and thrown away bags full of beads.  I've seen people get hurt by, fight over, and take their clothes off for the same.

I've taken pictures of mayors, chefs, athletes, actors, musicians, artists, real estate moguls, doctors, and business leaders.

I've ridden the street car to breakfast after a night I can't remember.

I've spent hours kicking a car tire around.

I've watched people cry in protest over an ecological disaster.

I've written russian curse words on somebody's house with chalk.

I've gotten a ride home in the back of a police car. 

I've started a business.

I've started a blog.

As I write this, there's a football field sized section of a bridge being hoisted into place a couple of miles from me.  It's a beautiful day for a bike ride to the river so I can add "I've watched a giant section of bridge get installed" to my resume.  It's Saturday.  Go outside and add to your own list.