What has been your favorite job other than IM?

I was a Forest Ranger for 12 years. Fresh from college, I supervised over 100 men trimming trees for utility lines. Talk about culture shock! Some of them could scarcely sign their own names - but they surely did know their work.

They were skilled artists, those tree men. I could tell which crew trimmed a tree just by the way the cuts were made. I quickly realized these men knew wayy more than I did in ways that mattered, that never were written down in books.

So I set about learning from them. First lesson was... to ask the same question of several different crews. If I got the same answer, then I could believe it.

Once these self-taught men realized I seriously respected their knowledge, they were more than willing to teach me.

And poke fun at me... one crew found I didn't like being whistled at, so every time I pulled up on the job, every tree along the street was whistling at me!

Couldn't help but laugh. And ask me about the time the goat "helped" the tree trimmers. Or about the nest of garter snakes. Or how my boss taught me how to tie my first neck-tie. [Being Maryland's first woman Forest Ranger was a coincidence, but led to some quite unique experiences! ]

Dot

I started my own used bookstore and ran it for a couple of years. That was a lot of fun, but I wasn't making much money and had a kid on the way so I decided to sell it.