Well, that’s not quite accurate. I actually did commune with some condors the other day, and they have better manners than you might imagine. I wrote a piece published in this past Sunday’s Los Angeles Times about an historic event: the first nesting condors at Pinnacles National Monument in 100 years! (Note powerful exclamation point, nudging you to feel the electricity of the moment.)

What actually got chewed up a bit was the article, which was edited by about one-third, so my lilting lyricism (and gut-busting jokes) didn’t make the final print. But what the heck, I’m happy to get a travel piece in a fine newspaper, even one that has had a bunch of its staff edited away in the past couple of years as well.

By the way, you might think condors are a pretty unsightly bird, but when they are dressed up? Oooh, baby…