Author CancelsTrip to Alaska--Blame it on Forces of Nature

My Aussie "Skye" is sensitive 

By Cal Orey

For weeks, actually since July I had been planning an adventure to Anchorage, Alaska. I got a book signing booked at Barnes and Noble, a nature tour on Turnagain Arm to seek wildlife, a hotel room with a view on the 17th floor overlooking Cook Inlet, and I was excited. But, but, but...
A few days ago, I logged onto an online Alaskan newspaper to see the PR for the upcoming book event. Whoa! The cover story upstaged my calender event. "Hurricane-force winds" for an upcoming Bering Sea storm in Anchorage and southcentral Alaska! It was surreal.  This is off season but it's only September. When I read about low wind shear that freaked me out. That's the stuff that is tricky and can fool even seasoned pilots. It's the wind that makes your plane circle forever before a safe landing or ascending. Not fun. I can do rough air but wind shear? Nah.

Turnagain Arm

So I called the nature tour people. I was the only one booked on the road that could have potential flooding. Rain definitely but flooding? Last week, when I was on Coast to Coast AM I noted my trip and mentioned a potential earthquake (there have been many minor ones thus far) but a "hurricane-force" storm? Too surreal.

Actually, for the last week something hasn't felt right. Usually I'm packed, all my ducks are in a row, and I'm ready for action. This time around, I felt stressed out, overwhelmed and something wasn't right. My dog and cat were sleeping together and both were clingy. (No, I didn't tell the dog I was going but I hadn't filled out the kennel paper either.) It just felt off. So after being on the fence I went to the NOAA site and saw a storm brewing at Salt Lake City, Utah (snow?) right during my flight. 

Now the forces of nature were really piling up.  I cancelled. After all, I do read people on a psychic network and have excellent reviews. I'm the girl that bet the late geologist Jim Berkland about Earth changes to presidential elections--I never lost a wager to him. I had to go with my gut instincts. Cancelled.

Oddly, after I did it and told all--the airline, hotel, nature tour people, Barnes and Noble, editor...I logged onto flight events. The same aircraft size I would be taking to SLC? Yesterday a bird hit it while ascending (a minor "Sully" type of event) and the plane had to land immediately. Then, I felt compelled to look at the Turbulence Flights Map (I never do that!). Severe Turbulence was shown with little pyramids at Tahoe-Reno Airport!  

So here I sit in my cozy waterbed. My two companion animals are no longer near me. I feel a strong sense of energy and am going to the resort pool today to swim laps. I feel a sense of disappointment that I'm not getting to sign my latest book and the series, and I won't be seeing any moose or get pampered in the hotel overlooking the water...However, I chose to tune into the forces of nature and for some reason I feel a great sense of calm. And the week is not over...