Nigel: I was in the barrel today . . .

I spoke to Nigel a few days ago, and it was one of the best phone conversations I’ve ever had with him.  As I’ve written previously, phone conversations with Nigel are usually one-sided, compounded by the fact that there is often a movie or TV show on in the background that is distracting him. But this time, on his own, he took the phone outside so that he wouldn’t be distracted while talking to me. I was so impressed that he did that on his own! I guess he really wanted to talk to me! Most of the time I have to drag information out of him, but this time he volunteered stories about his exciting time at the beach, even though his voice was characteristically stoic.

Nigel: The wave was all around me.

Me: Were you boogie-boarding?

Nigel: I was body-surfing.

Me: How long were you in the barrel?

Nigel: Just a few seconds. Then the wave collapsed.

Me: Was it cool inside the barrel?

Nigel: Yeah. I liked it.