Opening paragraphs.............

It's five-fifteen in the morning, and my father is waiting outside my door.  As I open it, I'm struck by his size.  In my late twenties, I'm now bigger than Dad, but I don't feel it.  In my mind, I still come up only to his shoulder.  He has the weathered quality of a lifelong outdoorsman, his skin like tanned leather—a bit worn, but hardened by the elements.

-Boyd Varty,  Cathedral Of The Wild:  An African Journey Home