/ 2008 Archived Material / A Very Common Thread

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ A Very Common Thread

by Jane Blaile

 

As I've been traveling along the trail, I've met people who have things in common with me, such as other teachers, people who have relatives in the Phoenix, AZ area, and even people who live there themselves.  This morning, I was talking to volunteer veterinarian Paul Nader.  He was talking about his work at a zoo.  Assuming the zoo veterinarian group enrollment might be small, I asked him where he worked.  And when he told me, I mentioned that my brother was the head veterinarian at the St. Louis Zoo, in Missouri.  It is a prominent zoo and I knew he'd have known about it.  Well, when I told him my brother's name, Paul said he knew him very well.  They talk on the phone about lemur care, one of my brother's areas of expertise.  That has got to be one of the neatest connections I have made up here...someone who knows one of my family members.  And we meet in Nome, AK....over 3,000 miles from my home.  Iditarod surprises continue!