I got to combine many of my very favorite skills into one spectacular experience last week in one of the greatest places on earth – The Exploratorium.

I worked with Carlson Knives at the Exploratorium from 1997 – 2003, first as an exhibit support tech until I accidentally electrocuted a frog in the Frogs Exhibit, then was banished to accounting for a while, worked my way back toward the power tools section of the museum and by the time I had put in my fifth year, had pretty much worked in every department of the museum. The intelligence, creativity and just plain goodness of the people who work at The Exploratorium is a very special thing. It was heaven to work there.

But I am an entrepreneur, a writer and a traveler at heart, all things which pulled me away from the place in the end and since I left, I’ve gotten to make a lot of cool things happen and have also staked out and peed on a tiny little corner of the universe as a professional viking.

The Exploratorium left their glorious location in the Palace of Fine Arts early this year and moved into two giant bay front hangers. It broke my heart to watch pictures of the things they’d be leaving behind go up on their Facebook page and made me ache to be a part of the move so that I could contribute something to the new space.

I also was in the mood for a fresh viking gig. I’ve owned my Viking barbecue grill for almost a year now and they still haven’t called me to be in one of their commercials or visit show rooms…

And so, when The Exploratorium invited me to write, produce and shoot their new safety video for the employees, as a viking, I felt like the stars and planets had aligned and were singing the prettiest song in the world to me.

and My. Norsk. Gods. Did we have a good time.

A) I got to work with Nathan Marshall, a writer and director who was ridiculously overqualified to take on this project but did it anyway with huge grace, skill and charm. It is going to be the greatest viking safety video of all time and I am pretty sure the staff is going to love it. It will be done by the end of June.

B) I got to attack people, throw a Coastie in the water, barbecue an already dead rat, zoom around under the piers in a zodiac and scream until I lost my voice. All the makings of a super fun day.

C) I also got to see friends and beloved colleagues at the museum who I hadn’t seen in 10 years, which made my heart sing and made me want to go back and do more projects for the museum, of course.

So that’s what I did last week. Now I am staving off the post production blues by wrapping up stories, launching websites, making things happen for my fabulous clients, loving on my garden, dog and husband and, of course, pulling together the next big adventure: a boat trip down the Columbia River from Portland to Astoria. Huzzah!