The Value of Margins – Six lessons From Ladders and Air Traffic Control

I have come to appreciate the value of margins.  This happened during a season when my husband took too a tumble from a ladder while trimming a tree. Yes, there was a running chainsaw involved.  We are thankful the only damage from the incident was a broken left heel bone. Nonetheless, crutches in a three-story […]

When It feels AWKWARD: A Memorable First Flying Lesson

“Even when it feels awkward…” – Nancy Cullen  “Anything worth doing well is worth doing badly in the beginning” – Marshall Thurber  I do not like doing things badly.  I want to do things well.  The first time.  I see others doing a thing well, with grace and ease, so I jump in and, well, […]

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday – When Things Go Really Wrong

“Mayday” is not a call you want to have to make, but sometimes things go wrong…. When it was time to relocate our airplanes closer to home, logistics were considerable.  One had to be transported by truck, the other needed its annual inspection before the re-positioning. Once all the details and dates were known, a […]

How To Tap Into Your Unique Inner Legacy

I’ve always liked the idea of memoirs, going into someone else’s life, going through someone else’s day and getting out of your own head. – Isabel Gillies The decision to start this BLOG came from a desire to preserve stories.  To capture those bits of memory that get lost as generations pass and years go […]

How Flying Is A Walk Of Faith

 “Sometimes a pilot has to take a firm grip on emotions, forcing oneself to take a firm control of a nervous stomach or shaking hand.”  Weather Flying, Robert N. Buck Aviation is a world seeped in perceptions of thrills and frightful emotions.  In reality, it requires just the opposite.  Being led by ones emotions […]

What Is So Wrong About Distraction?

As a former air traffic controller and current private pilot, we learned about distraction –  to recognize, mitigate and, avoid it in my work environment was a core part of training. In the air traffic world, side conversations and noise not related to the work at hand was watched for meticulously. Why?  Everyone knew distraction […]

If You Are In Kansas Then You Can Be An Aviator

This was my second year as an exhibitor at Kansas Aviation Day.  I and a fellow Advocate Wing member participated on the behalf of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to showcase yet another way Kansas Aviation is employed. Since a majority of MAF’s fleet of almost 50 aircraft based in 17 countries are Cessna Aircraft from […]

How To Tame Time Like An Air Traffic Controller

They say the job of air traffic control is telling pilots where to go, and this for the most part, correct.  That definition, of course, includes a tongue-in-cheek double entendre which makes it fun!  However, behind that privilege and responsibility is another skill:  Telling Time Where To Go.  Air traffic control is the ultimate in […]

step of faith

Success Is A Long Walk In The Same Direction

If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb I consider myself a fairly independent person.  Taught to carry my own weight, do my part and not quit, I champion getting things done.  I like my time alone.  Yet,  it is when I am part […]