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DEAN'S QUARTERLY NEWLETTER, Vol. 7, No. 1, 09/03/2003
HIGHLIGHTS OF SUMMER 2003:
Trip to San Diego – Geographers rule
the universe! Physicists may control
matter and the void, but geographers control the dimensions of space and
time. Again this year, at your expense (if
you are a U.S. taxpayer), I joined
thousands of other mapmakers from around the world at a mind-blowing Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) conference in San Diego. It’s truly amazing how far the
technology has come since I first began studying cartography in the 1970s, and
I always feel blown away at these conferences by what I see my compatriots
accomplishing with maps. I return to
work inspired with lots of new ideas.
Meanwhile,
mapmakers naturally have the geographic wisdom to know that San Diego in July is an awfully
nice place to get together. And as it
turns out, it provided me the perfect opportunity to catch up with my friends Hatem and Kathy, who unfortunately are struggling with the
dissolution of their marriage. Kathy and
I spent an afternoon catching up and enjoying her dogs Jordan and Cody, but
most of the time I hung with Hatem at their beachside
condo (now sold), an amazing place to relax and enjoy a fabulous view of the
sunny California coast.
It was over a
quarter century ago that Cathy Sultan (now Cathy Ryne)
and I were going together. So, it was
with some sweet pleasure, after all this time, to spend an afternoon with her
and two of her three daughters, Linda and Julie, both of whom have aspects of
their mother’s charm as well as plenty of their own. The time we spent together was truly a joy,
for me at least, and I believe for Cathy.
It was particularly nice after all these years to sing and harmonize
with her -- however briefly, and not exactly how I imagined it, in the parking
lot of a Starbucks.
Friends visiting from Germany
– My stalwart
friend Gary Brown and his wife Gisela made it to the States for their first
holiday together without the kids in two decades. Gary’s brother Greg, who
lives with his wife Beth here in DC, orchestrated a well-balanced agenda of
sightseeing together with time to relax and enjoy our company. Greg and Beth hosted from their charming
apartment, which features a fabulous view of the DC monuments and a fascinating
close-up view of the flights landing at National Airport, and Beth gemmed up a
delicious Mexican meal for us. For me,
it was like a vacation without leaving town.
I always enjoy catching up with my old buddy Gary, even if there’s
never enough time for us to play guitar.
Trip to Toronto – Climbing 21
flights of stairs while carrying a single candle up an otherwise pitch-black
stairwell – that will be one of the lasting memories from my visit to
friends, Igor and Alla Kosov,
at their 21st floor apartment in Toronto. The largest electricity blackout in the
history of North America also delayed my trip a full day. The power outage also stopped the flow of
running water, so Igor, Alla and their son Michael
were also obliged to haul water up the 21 stories. Then, it was down 21 stories and up 7 in an
adjacent building to use a friend’s toilet and cold water shower, and
back up 21 to go to bed for the night.
Then it was down 21 the next morning to make a telephone call to cancel
a car rental reservation (since most of the city was still shut down, and
driving was a little hazardous lacking traffic lights) and again back up
21. The novelty of the experience had
long since worn off, and we were all getting anxious for the outage to be
over. When the electricity finally came
back on, wild cheering could be heard from the surrounding high rise apartment
buildings, and cars honked their horns.
Igor and Alla had thought they’d never have to face such a
thing after emigrating from the Ukraine. Did they take the wrong turn from the second
world to the first and end up in the third world?
The visit was otherwise
quite pleasant. Alla’s
fabulous cooking is worth traveling great distances and enduring any hardship,
and you know, Igor has gotten to be quite a good chef in his own right. Their son Michael is something of a prodigy
on the guitar, and it was great fun jammin’
with him. Vodka zakooska (vodka with
salty hors devourers), great company and a million dollar view of the Toronto skyline and Lake Ontario – what more could a
Dean Oman want?
COMING UP NEXT QUARTER: Minnesota again
Check in and let me know what's up with you.
You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail
address: mail@deanoman.com.
Review previous newsletters:
Spring 03 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 4, 06/01/03 – Minnesota, Boston
Winter 03 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 3, 03/01/03 – Arizona, California and
Colorado
Fall 02 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 2, 12/01/02 – Balkans and Turkey,
Minnesota, Toronto
Summer
02 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 1, 09/01/02 --
Minnesota, California and Canada's Maritimes
Spring
02 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 4, 06/01/02 -- Nearly
arrested
Winter
02 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 3, 03/01/02 -- Arizona
and California
Fall
01 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 2, 12/01/01 -- Boston,
Minnesota, New York City
Summer
01 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 1, 09/01/01 -- Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia and Minnesota
Spring
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 4, 06/01/01 -- Baltic
Nations, Poland and Czech Republic
Winter
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 3, 03/01/01 -- Boston
and Arizona
Fall
00 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 2, 12/01/00 -- Colorado,
Minnesota and Gettysburg
Summer
00 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 1, 09/01/00 -- Minnesota
and Washington
Spring
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 4, 06/01/00 -- Eurailing in Europe, and Minnesota
Winter
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 3, 03/01/00 -- Jamaica,
Arizona and the Millennium
Fall
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 2, 12/01/99 -- The
Middle East and Minnesota
Summer
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 1, 09/01/99 -- Minnesota
Spring
99 -- Dean's News Vol 2, No. 4, 06/01/99 -- Pacific
Northwest
Winter
99 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 3, 03/01/99 -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Fall
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 2, 12/01/98 -- Germany, Poland and Czech Republic
Summer
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 1, 09/01/98 -- A summer romance
Spring
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 4, 06/01/98 -- New York City and Minnesota trips
Winter
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 3, 03/01/98 -- Arizona and Colorado trip
Fall
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 2, 12/01/97 -- Venezuela and Trinidad
Summer
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 1, 09/01/97 -- Toronto and Niagara Falls
Best wishes to all,
Deano
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