Michelee Cabot
Author, Adventurer & Pilot
Kill Devil Hills First Flight
Kill Devil Hills, First Flight We were cruising south over the eastern coastline, leaving bouncy fair weather in New England, merging with a system of low ceilings over Virginia and North Carolina. Massively wonderful tailwinds scooted us rapidly over the huge...
Chetumal Border Crossing
The young dragon lady looked up officiously, coolly - challengingly? - from her seat of authority. “You will have to bring your bags in here to have them inspected,” she haughtily pronounced. “Of course,” I smilingly responded. “We have six bags - I will need a worker...
The Monk
BROTHER MATTHEW FLIES AGAIN The Abbey rose among the swelling green hills of central Massachusetts, a handsome sprawling stone compound echoing medieval Europe, a beautifully mystical place of monks chanting in the dimly lit chapel their morning lauds and matins, the...
A Toe-Dance with Thunderstorms
Do I fly over, under, or around…??? That morning had dawned “severe clear,” right up to Flight Level God. We were happily, confidently, on our way from Alamos to Tucson. But suddenly it wasn’t so clear any more. We had drawn out the...
MVY Pre Air Force One
MVY pre AIR FORCE ONE For years and years I logged flights into the Island, first in a little two-seater as a young mother in the 1970s, our baby battened down in the netting behind us. Coming to the Vineyard was always to visit Granny and Grandfather in Chilmark, in...
Opals and Anzac
Coober Pedy On the wide South Australian desert horizon, flat and vague, slowly appeared low undulating mounds. Nothing spectacular – but the nearer we got, some appeared strangely, smoothly, cone-shaped. Mysterious piles like giant anthills - but not. As we...
Squall Line Flips Planes
So. I signed up for flying lessons, got an instructor (old cigarette-breath baggy-eyes), and eventually struck a neat deal with the flight school. They had a “discount club” that got you scrip to use for payments, instead of real money. All were encouraged to join....
Me and the Universe
When people speak in awe of the vastness of the universe, of how the billions upon billions of stars, galaxies, and perhaps even other universes – make them feel insignificant – a mere speck in the cosmos – a nano-speck, if you will – I nod dumbly and say “right.” But...
Pride Goeth Before the Fall
It’s just too easy to roll back the years, and be there. I’m back to eight years old. The images are strong – I’m there, digging my toes in the dirt and stirring it until it becomes a fine powder at least 8 inches deep, thus violating the rule to always wear shoes....
House Boys and Candlewax
We were going home - to a home we didn’t know yet. What would it be like, on the other side of the world? Behind a giant V-spray of water, for 21 days our MATS transport ship muscled the sea out of its way, leaving behind spouting whales - and sometimes,...
Tip-Toe through the Landmines; A Grisly Find
We were adventurous, curious, and rambunctious, we transplanted military offspring. We were on Luzon, at the Army Air Corps base Florida Blanca – still Air Corps, not yet Air Force, that year. Newly reunited with our warrior dads, gleeful to be back in their arms, on...
Joe and the Carving Knife
JOE and the CARVING KNIFE The wild sight is burned in my memory – Chinese Joe the cook, enraged, crazed, chasing fleeing terrified Lupe the housemaid with a carving knife held high to plunge into her back. His slitted eyes were on fire, his lips drawn back from his...
Fiona and the Microlight
The year was… well, back when. We were in England, motoring through the Cotswold, when the two-lane became a car-brushing one-cart-track of leaning-in bushes and birds. We curled around the tree-shaded green hillsides, happily running across again a two-track, and...
S**t – Happens… Plane and Boat
So there I was, on a hot summer day, sharing a flight with fellow student Danny. Danny was a Boston bartender with flying dreams. (We all liked to split expenses in those days, when we could.) I’m in the pilot’s seat, and Danny is directing me over a big Boston area...
The Inner Voice
THE INNER VOICE Can it save your life? We all get nudges from our Inner Voice. Some say it's your Conscience – some insist it's your Guardian Angel – some say instinct. Or psychic events. Whatever you call it, I pay attention whenever I get that...
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