Looking back I can say how stupid. Dumb as nails. Not that that should surprise me. None of us quite that bright anymore. Maybe it has to do with the bad water, pcbs, or something. Once, in Toronto, at the Canadian National Exhibition, we were watching an air show together. The Snow Birds, a team of precision jet pilots flew overhead in perfect synchronisation, swooping and in formation, performing loops and dives. She told me she had an ambition to be a pilot. O.K. I said. Then she said she wanted to be a jet pilot, a military jet pilot, a performing jet pilot.

She said in all seriousness "I want to join the Snowbirds."
Ilooked at her in wonder. Is she kidding me? Is she nuts?
Are you serious?