The last blog post could benefit from further elaboration. I apologize; the blog has been on “autopilot” for a few days, and when the pre-scheduled posts ran out, we were too occupied with the homecoming, and too low on power to spend the time on line required to generate one of these posts. Let me make up for that now.
The Haines airport can’t accommodate commercial jets, so coming home means flying into Juneau, then either taking a small plane, or, more commonly for us, the state ferry to Haines. Aly enjoyed her visit with my “old flame” in Sitka, then flew to Juneau, where I was waiting for her. I had ferried down a couple of days earlier to return a U-Haul van and car for a friend who are on a rafting trip through Canada. The opportunity arose suddenly, shortly after Michelle and I had discussed the possibility of one or both of us going down to Juneau to meet her when she came in. We discussed every possible scenario, including me going down alone as a Father’s Day gift. We eventually decided against it. Two days later, my friend asked me to drive up to the launch point, drive the car back, and load the vehicles onto the ferry. I did him one better, taking the vehicles to Juneau.
That gave Aly and me a leisurely visit on the way home, where Michelle picked us up. You can imagine the conversation, laughter, hugs and kisses that have occurred since then.
Having Aly home safe is good news enough to see us through months. An email from a neighbor on the bay that he had found my beloved jacket and cap was icing on the cake. Aly and I hiked over and discovered that the found objects were indeed mine. I had dropped the coat on the bay, and it had eventually washed up in the long grass near another neighbor’s property. They smelled fishy, and were filthy, but not damaged. I’m really happy to have them back. I’d given up on ever seeing them again.
By the time that reunion occurred, Aly and I had already begun planning to try sewing our own eight-panel caps. I’d even picked up a wool suit jacket from a Juneau thrift store for material. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of that.
If we have the time. Aly will be hard pressed to earn the coming year’s tuition in the short time she’ll have here. She’s looking for off-campus housing for the coming term, and will likely leave in mid-August to work that out. It sounds as if she’ll be working with the same archaeology outfit here in town she worked with last summer. Yet another reunion.