Departing Fairbanks.
Arriving in Anchorage.
Departing Anchorage and flying through a midnight snow storm to Chicago.
Chicago.
Nearing Cincinnati...
Arrival. Baggage claim. Pick up the car. Drive home. Tear apart my old laptop since I now have a new one. Wouldn't want to leave anything confidential and unclassified lying around now would I?
Next day - creation of pumpkin cookie parts with the help of my lil' lil' sis, Nora Bora.
They kinda look like what's in the book... kinda...
Next day, I get an invite to her classroom to present about Antarctica and Australia.
Talked about the auroras, melting ice for water, the wind turbine at South Pole, the kangaroos of Australia, but like always they were far more interested in the penguins and desserts. 
I dressed up in my polar gear.
Few days later - Middletown, Ohio. Visiting the ghetto where my roots were born and getting a taste of what's growing in my granparents garden.
Ol' cat I found under a car many years ago, perhaps the last time I see her, godspeed tiger.
The Buddha bonsai. Still growing.
Their tomatoes. Marks of a very dry season.
Super sweet orange cherry tomatoes.
Parsley, sage and lavender.
Tall chili pepper bush.
The moon lily aka Witche's Apple, reminding me that the full moon is near, as is my time to migrate and metamorphosize. I always migrate on the moons.
Ah, the memories on the wall...
are almost as important as the memories made today.
Today I am going to Emma's golf party... made some puppy chow (chex, peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla and powder sugar), rich truffles and chocolate dipped strawberries for the girls.
Next step, Denver on Tuesday for Antarctic field camp orientation.