Today, Pete and I drove to the Anchorage Airport and picked up my friend Rae, who lives in British Columbia. She’s here for a week. I met her last summer at the Icelandic Horse Farm. We did a clinic together. We introduced one another to the other attendees and immediately became friends.

Our year-long email correspondence has been sporadic, but it was enough to motivate her to come and visit us. I grew increasingly more nervous as Pete and I watched innumerable people come through the airport gate. What, I wondered, would we talk about? I don’t know Rae all that well. I hate those long

silences in which you search around in your brain pan for something meaningful to say.

I needn’t have worried. Rae greeted us warmly and immediately began asking insightful questions about Alaska – the geography, economics, and political situation. She’s a dental hygienist and as such is adept at conversing. As importantly, she’s intelligent, witty, and fun to be with. I’m already relieved because this visit could easily have been a bust. We are going to have a very good time together.

Next: 262. 08/27/12: The Canadian/American Exchange Program