The morning went by fast. I was out of the Aurora Inn at 8:00 a.m. for my 10:05 a.m. flight. Strange, I thought I had more than enough time to even hang out in the airport, but did not. The Checker taxi service arrived right on time – usually they go right to their destination, but this time there were many stops.

The Native woman driver didn’t blink an eye when, at one stop, a middle aged woman, heavy set, walked out onto her porch and stood in front of at least seven baggage items. This included the ubiquitous black bins with yellow lids, soup cases, and cardboard boxes. The cabbie did not help me load up my two soup cases, but she did help the woman get her luggage into the back of the van. She had no choice. This woman could not have done this alone.

Between Elim and Nome

There were more stops, and then finally I was dropped off at the airport. I trundled in with my two bags and checked in at the counter because I could not get the boarding pass machine to work. The woman was actually nice about this.

Then immediately through TSA, and after a very short wait, the passengers boarded the plane. This included me. The plane, full, left early. I didn’t even have the time to get nervous. We were told that there would be “low” turbulence, which was something that I didn’t want to know, and that we’d have a tailwind.

There was some turbulence. But the flight got to Anchorage well ahead of the scheduled time. Beforehand, as we were landing, a very tall African American guy stood and went to take a coat out of the overhead compartment. The flight attendant yelled at him, startling all the other passengers.

I got off the plane and went to the baggage area where I immediately claimed my two soupcases. I then called Pete who had just arrived in the parking area. He immediately did an about face and picked me up at the curb in departure area. We didn’t do anything in Anchorage, just went to the hotel where I worked for a few hours. Pete went to the gym and worked out.

Other volunteers appeared. It was a day on which I would have preferred to work alone. Those days may be over.

Late afternoon, after doing distribution, Pete and I came home. Breakup, now very evident here – the enclosure a mess, the ground visible, the poop in piles and clumps. I said hello to the horses then went up to the house, returned to the pen, cleaned up some, then returned to the house where I had dinner.

This is the most amazing thing. I’d left the front enclosure gate open. The horses, who came out, all ran up the driveway and greeted me. All three no less. It was as if they knew I’d been away and were saying hello.

I resumed cleaning the enclosure, brushed Tyra, and called it a day. I now have it all figured out. It was a day on which I didn’t have to wait for anything. I went from being in Nome to being home in record time.

Next: 87. 3/28/25: The Unplanned Day