FROM THE FAR NORTH TO THE DEEP SOUTH TO WAY OUT
FROM CAP’N MERYL
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
USA Today Column
When I was in college at San Diego State, one
summer I took an extraordinary camping trip with
some of my student friends and one of their
parents who went along to chaperone.
The trip started in Germany where we rented a
Volkswagen van. We drove north, then took a ferry
to Sweden. We drove through Finland and spent a
couple of nights at a campground near Helsinki,
which was just gorgeous, before continuing on.
Eventually we drove east through much of the
Soviet Union after making a side-trip to some
beautiful islands in the Gulf of Finland (where we
went skinny-dipping !) before turning southward
through Romania and Bulgaria.
Needless to say, it was quite a trip. I failed to
keep a journal which is really unfortunate, but
was left instead with a virtual kaleidoscope of
memories—-freezing to death while camping for a
night in the open on a mountainside in
Transylvania and watching the bats, just waiting
for Dracula to appear. Swimming through hundreds
of jellyfish in Copenhagen. It took a little
courage for me to jump in, but everyone else was
swimming among them and ignoring them. The locals
insisted they didn’t sting and they didn’t. Still
a little disconcerting, though.
I remember the gypsies in Romania, rumbling about
the countryside in their covered wagons and
providing musical entertainment for whoever would
listen. They were wonderfully talented with their
violins and other instruments; I couldn’t get
enough of it.
There were giant sunflowers in Bulgaria, plum
trees by the side of the road which passersby were
free to take and eat (and believe me—we did) and
delightful Roman-style bathhouses where there were
crabby old and highly unattractive women with
birch switches to bat us with. I never really got
into that, but did enjoy the steamy-hot baths.
However, I’m digressing from the purpose of this
Update which actually has nothing at all to do
either with me or my college camping trip, hundred
of years ago. Okay, not hundreds, but it’s
starting to feel that way. All I really wanted to
do was mention I’d once been to Finland, but I may
have gotten a bit carried away (who, me?).
In the aftermath of Katrina, I received a short
note from a woman who said she worked in Airline
Operations at New Orleans airport and wanted to
speak with me. I returned her call several times
but was never able to reach her. Then, very
unexpectedly she surfaced in Phoenix a few weeks
later and called me when I was at home.
It turns out she’s originally from Finland. I
asked her for a brief bio of herself and it
started like this:
“In the Times-Picayune today (Sunday Oct 2, 2005)
a local columnist stated all those who stayed in
New Orleans during Katrina were either broke or
stupid. I don't think that is a fair assessment
of people like myself, an airport operations
supervisor, or my boyfriend, a sheriff's deputy.
Or thousands of other local police and detention
officers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, etc. who
were required to stay as first responders. I
don't think we are heroes either, for doing what
is expected of us.”
Her name is Kimberley, a pretty woman with eyes
approximately the color of the water in Helsinki
Harbor, and you can meet her in the Cap’n Meryl
and Friends Album at
www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery or just click here:
Kimberley
to go directly to her photo.
She’d lived in Houston for awhile where her car
got flooded after Tropical Storm Allision in 2001.
Well aware of the dangers of flooding, still, she
was excited to take a job with Airport Operations
in New Orleans. After Katrina paid a visit,
Kimberley decided she’d had enough. Having gone
to college and flight school in Phoenix, she
decided to return there.
Here is another excerpt from her letter to me:
“Like thousands of other local residents, I have
decided to leave the area for good and start a new
life in the Phoenix area. The real estate market
there is pretty tight and renting an apartment
proved harder than I expected. Apparently, being a
Katrina survivor has no advantage but we're being
held to the same standards as local applicants as
far as income level, FICO scores and so forth.”
(Kimberly told me that she was denied an apartment
rental in at least one instance because she
couldn’t show the “required” $20,000 in the bank!
To rent an apartment? So much for sympathy for
survivors of the storm.)
“Eventually I hope to continue my aviation
endeavors and renew medical and bi-annual as well
as start studying for a CFI checkride. I look
forward to renewing old friendships at 99's and
Civil Air Patrol as well as meeting new friends in
the valley of the sun. If somebody from the
Phoenix area is reading this and wants to contact
me during this transitional period, I can be
always reached by e-mail at pyysalo@yahoo.com.
After a few ups and downs in my life I can just be
happy I always seem to eventually land on my feet,
like a cat. I have been blessed with a
supportive family and friends, even if they live
far away. I want to help other people who are not
so lucky as I am and start volunteering for
organizations like Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity
and Meals on Wheels once I settle down. As I have
learned, nobody is immune to natural disasters and
might need a helping hand one day. I hope there
is no disaster like this anytime soon, but if
there is one, I will be better prepared to help.”
I found Kimberley’s story interesting and thought
my readers might as well. I also am aware that
several of my readers live in or near Phoenix and
might want to contact Kimberley to offer their
friendship and support.
By the way, don’t ask Kimberley if she’s Finnish.
The answer would undoubtedly be, “Me, Finnish? No
way! I’m just getting started!”
And with that miserable and misguided attempt at
humor…
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm
(keynote speaker information)
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
USA Today Column
When I was in college at San Diego State, one
summer I took an extraordinary camping trip with
some of my student friends and one of their
parents who went along to chaperone.
The trip started in Germany where we rented a
Volkswagen van. We drove north, then took a ferry
to Sweden. We drove through Finland and spent a
couple of nights at a campground near Helsinki,
which was just gorgeous, before continuing on.
Eventually we drove east through much of the
Soviet Union after making a side-trip to some
beautiful islands in the Gulf of Finland (where we
went skinny-dipping !) before turning southward
through Romania and Bulgaria.
Needless to say, it was quite a trip. I failed to
keep a journal which is really unfortunate, but
was left instead with a virtual kaleidoscope of
memories—-freezing to death while camping for a
night in the open on a mountainside in
Transylvania and watching the bats, just waiting
for Dracula to appear. Swimming through hundreds
of jellyfish in Copenhagen. It took a little
courage for me to jump in, but everyone else was
swimming among them and ignoring them. The locals
insisted they didn’t sting and they didn’t. Still
a little disconcerting, though.
I remember the gypsies in Romania, rumbling about
the countryside in their covered wagons and
providing musical entertainment for whoever would
listen. They were wonderfully talented with their
violins and other instruments; I couldn’t get
enough of it.
There were giant sunflowers in Bulgaria, plum
trees by the side of the road which passersby were
free to take and eat (and believe me—we did) and
delightful Roman-style bathhouses where there were
crabby old and highly unattractive women with
birch switches to bat us with. I never really got
into that, but did enjoy the steamy-hot baths.
However, I’m digressing from the purpose of this
Update which actually has nothing at all to do
either with me or my college camping trip, hundred
of years ago. Okay, not hundreds, but it’s
starting to feel that way. All I really wanted to
do was mention I’d once been to Finland, but I may
have gotten a bit carried away (who, me?).
In the aftermath of Katrina, I received a short
note from a woman who said she worked in Airline
Operations at New Orleans airport and wanted to
speak with me. I returned her call several times
but was never able to reach her. Then, very
unexpectedly she surfaced in Phoenix a few weeks
later and called me when I was at home.
It turns out she’s originally from Finland. I
asked her for a brief bio of herself and it
started like this:
“In the Times-Picayune today (Sunday Oct 2, 2005)
a local columnist stated all those who stayed in
New Orleans during Katrina were either broke or
stupid. I don't think that is a fair assessment
of people like myself, an airport operations
supervisor, or my boyfriend, a sheriff's deputy.
Or thousands of other local police and detention
officers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, etc. who
were required to stay as first responders. I
don't think we are heroes either, for doing what
is expected of us.”
Her name is Kimberley, a pretty woman with eyes
approximately the color of the water in Helsinki
Harbor, and you can meet her in the Cap’n Meryl
and Friends Album at
www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery or just click here:
Kimberley
to go directly to her photo.
She’d lived in Houston for awhile where her car
got flooded after Tropical Storm Allision in 2001.
Well aware of the dangers of flooding, still, she
was excited to take a job with Airport Operations
in New Orleans. After Katrina paid a visit,
Kimberley decided she’d had enough. Having gone
to college and flight school in Phoenix, she
decided to return there.
Here is another excerpt from her letter to me:
“Like thousands of other local residents, I have
decided to leave the area for good and start a new
life in the Phoenix area. The real estate market
there is pretty tight and renting an apartment
proved harder than I expected. Apparently, being a
Katrina survivor has no advantage but we're being
held to the same standards as local applicants as
far as income level, FICO scores and so forth.”
(Kimberly told me that she was denied an apartment
rental in at least one instance because she
couldn’t show the “required” $20,000 in the bank!
To rent an apartment? So much for sympathy for
survivors of the storm.)
“Eventually I hope to continue my aviation
endeavors and renew medical and bi-annual as well
as start studying for a CFI checkride. I look
forward to renewing old friendships at 99's and
Civil Air Patrol as well as meeting new friends in
the valley of the sun. If somebody from the
Phoenix area is reading this and wants to contact
me during this transitional period, I can be
always reached by e-mail at pyysalo@yahoo.com.
After a few ups and downs in my life I can just be
happy I always seem to eventually land on my feet,
like a cat. I have been blessed with a
supportive family and friends, even if they live
far away. I want to help other people who are not
so lucky as I am and start volunteering for
organizations like Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity
and Meals on Wheels once I settle down. As I have
learned, nobody is immune to natural disasters and
might need a helping hand one day. I hope there
is no disaster like this anytime soon, but if
there is one, I will be better prepared to help.”
I found Kimberley’s story interesting and thought
my readers might as well. I also am aware that
several of my readers live in or near Phoenix and
might want to contact Kimberley to offer their
friendship and support.
By the way, don’t ask Kimberley if she’s Finnish.
The answer would undoubtedly be, “Me, Finnish? No
way! I’m just getting started!”
And with that miserable and misguided attempt at
humor…
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm
(keynote speaker information)
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