In the
words of The Greatful Dead…What a long strange trip it’s been. As always it seems, it’s been a while since I’ve
posted once again. I’m still sitting in
Galena in the midst of another slow fire season. I’m just not used to babysitting a helicopter
that doesn’t fly.
A lot
of things have happened since my last post.
I made it home for my last break and it was a packed schedule. It was time to say goodbye to our new friend
Loki. He was almost 18 years old and in
very poor health. The old boy was in
pain from all the cancer lumps and could just barely breath. He could no longer hold down his food. We made sure that his last days were just as
good as we could make them. We said our
goodbyes and made sure he left with dignity.
It’s not pleasant but is part of life.
My
helicopter broke as soon as I left camp.
I got the call from my relief mechanic that first night. Nothing big, the starter quit working but
getting parts flown into remote parts of Alaska from the Lower 48 as soon as
possible is no easy task. Of course,
several fires had just started and all we could do was sit and watch.
If you
remember, Kitty and I are in the process of leaving Fairbanks for the Wasilla
area of Alaska. I had a couple extra
days off and we loaded the truck with as much product as possible and made the
drive through Denali National Park to deliver more unique merchandise to
Wytchwood Herbal Shoppe in Houston, Alaska.
This new store is a work in progress but is beginning to look nice!
We
finally made it home in time for me to fly back to Galena and get back to
work. My time off flew by as
always. I had just gotten back in camp,
when I received a frantic call from Kitty.
There was a bad thunder and hail storm at home that spooked Ally the
Wonder Huskie. She bolted and never
returned. Remember that other than one special
friend of ours that sits with Kitty every day, Ally is her only companionship
when I am gone.
How can you not love this? |
This
was a tough one. Kitty doesn’t drive
anymore. She couldn’t go looking for our
lost family member. I was gone and not
able to hunt for her. I made up a post
on Facebook for the local buy, sell, and trade pages and went to work. For three days, I pushed my link begging
people to share it and be on the lookout.
For three nights I talked to people, accepted condolences, and pushed
the link. I made connections and people
passed the word. Then the miracles
started to happen.
A guy
that I will simply call Michael the Archangel came out to look the area
over. He is an animal retriever that
likes to help find lost pets. He is very
successful at this. He was setting up to
start searching. Another new friend
volunteered to make and post flyers in the area. She posted a flyer at the local gathering
place and watering hole, Ivory Jack’s. I
received a call the same night she did this.
It seems a miner went to Ivory’s to see if there were any missing dog
flyers there. Ally had wandered in to
his gold camp several miles away from us.
She was tired and hungry but otherwise okay. I explained to him that I was 300 miles away
and Kitty doesn’t drive so he had his workers gps our location and returned
Ally that same night. I do believe in miracles.
It has
been a long strange trip. I have no idea
what the future holds for Kitty, Ally, and myself. I do know that I wouldn’t
change a thing about my life with these two.
For an anti-social autistic person that doesn’t trust or want to depend
on anyone besides myself, I cannot imagine my life without Kitty and Ally.
ArcticArtique.BlogSpot.Com
You Are What You Is
Frank Zappa
No comments:
Post a Comment