Cocoon mode,* day 23: My futile search for Old Girl and her woman

You will recall that Carol Shay did not know the address of the house where Old Girl was reunited with her woman, but she did give me general directions on how to get there and assured me that, once I did, it would be obvious to me. So, I pedaled my bike right into the area that I believed her to speak of, but it was not obvious at all. 

There were a good number of homes around and the only way that I would have known Old Girl lived at one of them was if she was out in the yard. She wasn't.

I did, however, see this American flag, hanging limp in the shadows, where a triangular patch of it caught the sunlight.

...and I saw this horse, peeking out of a nearby barn. I am told this barn is where I was born, but I don't believe it, since I did not first step into Alaska until I was 22 years old.

It was the horse that told me this. The horse said, "brother, you were born in this barn, just like me." I think the horse lied.

True enough, though - I was born an Alaskan, its just that I was born into exile in a town called Ogden, Utah, and it took me awhile to come home.

And, as I neared my house, I saw this dog. But I never did see Old Girl and her woman.

In the afternoon, when I took my coffee break, I drove back into the neighborhood, where I spotted this little family, as seen in my rearview mirror. I drove to them, described the dog, and asked if they knew where it lived.

They were friendly and helpful people and they spoke with what I took to be a Russian accent - a strong Russian accent. It could have been from somewhere else in that part of the world, but it sounded Russian to me.

By my description of the old dog with one blue and one brown eye, they recognized it right away. "Very old dog," the man said. "Husky. So stiff with arthritis it can hardly walk." 

So they told me where the dog lived, with two other dogs. I drove there, and found an old husky, with two dogs and a woman, but it was the wrong husky and the wrong woman.

"No," she said, "my dog did not get lost."

I should have taken their picture, but I was in a hurry and already had more pictures than I could justifiable stuff into a "cocoon mode" post, so I just said "thank you," got back into my red Ford Escape and drove away.

But I will yet find Old Girl and her woman.

I will.

*Cocoon mode: Until I finish up a big project that I am working on, I am keeping this blog at bare-minimum simple. I anticipate about one month.

Comments

[Albert Lewis]

Ogden, Utah! Well, you're much better off where you are.

[debby]

Well, now, until this post, I never would have known that horses lied. I thought they were trustworthy creatures noble and true. Now I know, and the next time that one talks to me, I will take careful measure of his words.

My mother often asked us, as we were growing up, if we were born in a barn. I always thought it odd that she didn't know. I'm glad she never met this horse.