Last Sunday, Nov. 16, I took off for Lansing, Michigan to visit a dear friend of mine, and to attend a talk and book signing by author Barbara Oakley. I read her book, Evil Genes, and loved it. I’ve never written a fan letter in my life (that I remember) but I wrote to Dr. Oakley and lo and behold, she wrote back! We emailed several times and she was kind enough to ask me to join her for dinner and a chat if I could make it to one of her events – so I went to Lansing. (You can find info on this book by searching her name in NoveList, and you can find articles reviewing the book on InfoTrac.)
Dr. Oakley is a thoroughly lovely person, a real adventurer, and a new friend. We found out that we have many things in common, including military service. At one point she served as a translator aboard Russian fishing trawlers in the Bering sea, and chronicled her adventures in a book entitled Hair of the Dog (which I haven’t yet read). During our conversations we discovered that she was aboard these trawlers at about the same time I was flying missions out of Alaska, refueling reconnaissance (spy) aircraft. Our Intelligence folks (yes, I KNOW “military intelligence” is an oxymoron) used to let us know when the Russian trawlers were close to our flight path and always cautioned us to be extra vigilant in our radio chatter at those times. Fun coincidence, huh?
Dr. Oakley gives an entertaining and enlightening presentation – it would be a fun idea to have her present at our library…. (Betty, are you reading this?)
So anyway, I tried to come home Thursday (Nov.20) and ran into that lake effect snowstorm. Somewhere between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo the flurries started, and just a little past Kalamazoo, ran into a white-out. I got off the I-94 at the first exit I could see, which happened to be Paw Paw (fun name, huh?) and spent two nights waiting for the white mess to wear itself out and quit. I had taken my laptop with me, so I worked on (guess what?) some of the Great 8 Adventures in between obsessing over the weather channel’s online doppler radar loop, NOAA online satellite photos, the local TV weather forecaster’s video clips, and begging Louise for forgiveness for not getting back to work by Friday. I finally got home today (Nov. 22). HOORAAAAYYYY! My cat has been reading me the riot act all afternoon for going off and leaving her for so long!
And that’s how I spent my winter vacation! ;D
Rantoramadingdong's Weblog 
Wow what an adventure. Glad you had the Great 8 to wile away the hours.