We are back in Greater Peavine after our short trip to Kentucky - but not without some excitement. While it was 70 degrees and sunny in Kentucky we hit a wall of snow around Springfield last night and traffic on the Interstate slowed to 40 mph as we crept past numerous cars and trucks that had slid off the highway and crashed into guardrails or other cars.

As we entered Greater Peavine the snow continued but the toll road was now without snowplows or police. The highway shoulder was buried in snow and in places the snow had covered all but one lane. It was hard to tell if the highway was just wet or frozen. Semi-trailer trucks were constantly on my tail as I slowed to 40 mph on the one open lane. Nonetheless the car suddenly spun out of control and whipped from one side of the highway to the other as I tried to keep the front wheels pointed straight ahead and fought the urge to hit the brakes. We came to rest sideways on the snow-packed shoulder with the front of the car across one lane of the two-lane highway. I had narrowly avoided hitting the concrete wall in the middle of the toll road or going off the steep slope on the other side of the highway. But now I had the car stuck in deep snow and sticking out onto the highway - with several semi-trucks headed our way.

As I flashed my lights to warn the oncoming drivers I tried in vain to get the car to move but it seemed hopeless. The trucks and several cars passed by in the one open lane (no one stopped to help) and after a couple of minutes of rocking back and forth the car broke free of the snow and we got back on the highway. It was an interesting way to end the mini-vacation.

The World's longest cave

We are at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky today for a short spring break trip. This afternoon we took a 2-hour tour of the historic parts of the world's longest cave system and tomorrow we will take a 2-hour tour of the other end of the cave. This is my third visit to Mammoth Cave but only my second visit to the actual cave. The first time I was here (circa 10 years old) we were behind schedule and my grandfather insisted on leaving without going down into the cave. I did make it back when I was 18 however and I remember the self-guided tour and the cafeteria 300-ft below the surface.

Now, because of people who carved their names in the cave walls, the tours must be guided by Park Rangers. And because of Homeland "Security" rules no bags or purses are allowed on the tours. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think Mammoth Cave is high on the terrorists list of places to attack.

Tonight we are staying at the Mammoth Cave Hotel on top of the cave. This time, I'm taking my sweet time here. No schedule.

Forty Tales from the Afterlives

"Sum, Forty Tales from the Afterlives" is a book well worth reading. The publisher describes it as:

A clever little book by a neuroscientist translates lofty concepts of infinity and death into accessible human terms. What happens after we die? Eagleman wonders in each of these brief, evocative segments.

Sum is incredibly creative and humorous. Even thought-provoking in a way that can change the way one looks at things. One of the afterlife scenarios in the book describes an afterlife populated only by people you met during life on Earth. Maybe it was just a shared glance in an elevator but they are all there. This seems comforting for a long time but after a while it occurs to you that you can never meet anyone new - that your afterlife is forever limited and there's no such thing as a stranger to observe or to meet. It's then that you wish you had enlarged your universe when you had a chance.

For an interesting, downloadable interview with the author see All in the Mind.