How to pronounce "howling"

Frank has always been an adventurer --

he looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting --

and no fan of regret.

So it wasn't surprising when he came into clinic one day,

saying he wanted to raft down the Colorado River.

Was this a good idea?

With all the risks to his safety and his health, some would say no.

Many did, but he went for it, while he still could.

It was a glorious, marvelous trip:

freezing water, blistering dry heat, scorpions, snakes,

wildlife howling off the flaming walls of the Grand Canyon --

all the glorious side of the world beyond our control.

Frank's decision, while maybe dramatic,

is exactly the kind so many of us would make,

if we only had the support to figure out what is best for ourselves over time.

So much of what we're talking about today is a shift in perspective.

After my accident, when I went back to college,

I changed my major to art history.

Studying visual art, I figured I'd learn something about how to see --

a really potent lesson for a kid who couldn't change

so much of what he was seeing.