Sunday, February 10th, 2008, 2:48 p.m.

Greetings from Redding, California!

It's been a few days since my last update; here's what's been going on:

Got the flu (yuck!) a couple of days after the Dow Event in Saginaw. That put me down and out for a couple of days. Flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday, where I spoke at St. Peters Elementary in Forest Lake the next morning, and Lakeside Elementary in Chisago Lakes in the afternoon. Sorry I don't have pictures! My staff photographer isn't with me on this trip.

Yesterday, I flew from Minneapolis to Sacramento, California. Rented a car and headed north to Redding, where I'm here for a week of school visits and a book signing at Barnes & Noble on Friday. I was here last spring and had such a great time, I thought it would be great to come back. And the weather's great. Sunshine, and about seventy degrees as I write this. However, back home in northern Michigan, I understand there are blizzard warnings! Yipes.

Here are a few pics from back home. This is what a northern Michigan winter is like:

Yesterday, on my way to Redding, I came across this bald eagle. He looked injured, so I stopped:

Turns out, he was stuck in the fence. When I got close, he freaked out a little . . . and was able to wriggle free and fly off. He sure was big! It was the closest I'd ever been to a wild bald eagle in my life.

Thanks for checking in! Those of you in the upper midwest: stay warm!

Best wishes, happy reading, and . . . WRITE ON!