My friend Bill is a proponent of a healthy diet and he has influenced me to eat healthier. In fact, he has convinced me to eat brown rice on a regular basis. This was accomplished after many grotesque descriptions of things which might be lodged in my colon. I have been a little freer ever since.

One of Bill's simplest suggestions for better eating is: Try not to eat 2 bad meals in a row. This is designed to prevent long-term back-up of fast food, processed food, and other nasty meals in the average American diet. And this seems so easy.

On a road trip seven years ago, this simple tip became difficult to follow. We spent three weeks on a slow drive to Arizona. On our first stop, Bill said, "Hey, there's a Chinese buffet. We'll make sure that we eat a healthy meal after this one." This became a familiar refrain on the beautiful trip across America. In town after town we ate at every Chinese restaurant we saw.

So, we had nearly abandoned any effort at healthy eating. But once we got to New Mexico we added variety to our diets. We began eating Mexican food.