Perry's Adventures in the Air

One more day in my first week of school at SMK!  It's been rough at times, but overall, I think the week has gone fairly well.

Perry has been here about a week now.  I left him with friends in Anchorage so he wouldn't need to be cared for by strangers here, in a new place, while I was in UNK for a week.  While I was in UNK, my good friend who was taking care of Perry, Rich Shaut, became rather seriously ill--he's still in the hospital, in fact, and would appreciate being on people's prayer lists, I'm sure.  So getting Perry transported up here had to be delegated to another good friend of mine, Steve Vrabel.

To ship a dog from Anchorage to SMK is no easy feat.  It's impossible to reserve a space ahead of time, since dogs fly as cargo, both passengers and mail rate ahead of cargo, and there's no telling how many passengers and how much mail will come through on any given day.  So to transport a dog, it's necessary to call the airline the day of the flight, and if they say space is available, to get the dog to the airport before space becomes unavailable again.  You also have to, by the way, check with the airport in UNK to make sure there's room on the UNK-SMK leg of the flight.

So Steve called on Saturday the 18th, the day I returned from UNK, to see if Perry could go on the plane.  There was--until the time Perry got to the airport, when mail, I presume, had taken his spot.  Steve couldn't take him for the Sunday flight, since he had church, and the Monday flight was full.  On Tuesday, all flights into SMK were cancelled on account of weather.  Which reminds me--the few packages that did come in on Monday came in in the middle of a steady rain--and sat on the runway for an hour or so before someone was able to go out and pick them up.  The moral of this story is--if you're sending things to bush Alaska in the spring, summer, or fall, wrap them in plastic, if possible, since the cardboard box they're shipped in may fall apart before it gets to the post office here.  In winter, of course, we don't have to worry about things getting wet.

So Perry was finally able to come in, if I have my days right, last Wednesday.  He was apparently a good dog on the flight--a colleague who came in on the same small plane from UNK said she hadn't even known there had been a dog on the plane, he was so quiet.  While being unloaded, though, he was far from quiet--the handlers got worried about their fingers.  Of course, Perry didn't bite anyone.

He seems to be adapting well enough to life as a country dog--though it's not safe for dogs to run around free out here, so in many ways, his life is much like it was in ANC--in the bathroom during the day, going for walks morning, afternoon, and night, playing in the house until bedtime, then sleeping in the bedroom.  He has, unfortunately, discovered that the bathroom door doesn't latch well, which gives him full access to the bedroom during the day.  Fortunately, he hasn't yet torn anything up in there.

My house is the next in line for repairs in SMK--new carpet, new doors and windows, new front porch--so maybe Perry's bedroom access can be curtailed once again.  Until then, I'm hiding my socks!

AMDG

Tim

Perry in the bedroom.  He seems rather unconcerned that he's out of his appointed place.

Perry says hi! (but with his characteristic suspicion)