We follow Mr. Horsey to the end of the beginning of the Iditarod; he gets eaten by a big fish; Balto comes to the rescue

We did not arrive at Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod until near the end, when just a few teams were left to go. We were not concerned about this, because the real start is on Sunday, at Willow, in the afternoon and we are pretty sure we will be there.

Still, Jacob and Lavina wanted to take Kalib downtown so that he could experience some of the flavor of it all and I wanted to go, to. Margie wanted to hang out with Jobe and he needed a babysitter. So I dropped her off at the house, then accompanied Jacob, Lavina and Kalib to Fourth Avenue.

But what is that little Mr. Horsey doing tucked into Jacob's coat as he and Kalib walk down Fourth Avenue?

Here. Read the story for yourself. The above letter came to Jacob and Lavina in a box along with a disposable camera. So, before Mr. Horsey makes his next journey, before hopefully one day in the near future returning to his first grade class in Killan, Jacob, Lavina, and Kalib thought they would give him a chance to experience the Iditarod.

Jacob is photographing Mr. Horsey with the banner that marks the Iditarod starting line in the background.

I believe this is the third to the last team to go. Jacob takes a disposable camera picture with the sled dogs in the background.

Shortly after the last team had left, this man, wearing a wolverine hat, and this woman, wearing a wolf hat, posed with Mr. Horsey.

I am not sure how such a scene will play in a first grade classroom in Southern California, but it does represent life in Alaska.

Shortly after that, Mr. Horsey sat in on a dog team line himself.

Melanie and Charlie joined us, under a real, live, snarling, angry, grizzly bear. I was terrified, but, as you can see, these three were very brave. The bear did not frighten them at all.

Across the street from the bear and a few steps down the sidewalk, Mr. Horsey took a short nap on the wing of an airplane flown by a rather odd pilot and his oddball passengers.

I don't think this airplane would pass annual and I am certain there are some aviation safety violations going on here.

From there, we walked down the hill to the train station.

"Take my picture, quick!" Mr. Horsey shouted at me. "Before we get run over!"

Then we met this fellow, whose name I forget. I wasn't worried about that, because he directed us to a table womanned by his wife to get a brochure and he said his name was there. So I got the brochure and I just now took a look at it for the first time and it has no names in it at all.

Anyway, he had some puppies for sale. These are a mix of great dane and something else - I forget what, because I thought that was going to be on the brochure, too, but it's not. His web address is, however, and maybe the information is there. I haven't looked yet and it is late and I am tired and want to get to bed, so I will leave that to you, if you are interested.

He said he also had some small breed pups and that Bristol Palin had bought one from him in the morning.

He and his wife also cater pony-parties for kids. All that information should be on the website, I would think.

Next, we moved on to the snow sculptures, where a giant halibut took an interest in Mr. Horsey.

Oh no! A leaping salmon got him!

How are we ever going to explain this to that first grade class in Killan?

Assuming that he and Melanie would be able to get tickets to the Miners and Trappers Ball, Charlie planned to enter the beard contest at 8:00 PM. I would have liked to have gone to take pictures of him competing, but, I didn't have a ticket and I was pretty sure that Margie and I would be back in Wasilla by eight.

We tried a couple of other places, but there were no seats available. Melanie called ahead to Snow City and by the time we reached there, walking, there was a table for us.

I ordered a portabello mushroom sandwich and Charlie picked up the tab.

I had never thought of Snow City as a place to eat any meal other than breakfast, but, that sandwich...

superb!

Kalib ordered some hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. He found it superb as well.

After lunch, Melanie and Charlie parted company with us and went their own way.

As we walked the mile or so back to the car, Jacob said he wanted to stop by the Balto statue to pay his respects to this great lead dog who saved so many people in Nome during the 1925 diphtheria serum run.

When we got to the statue, I could not believe my eyes. Balto had saved Mr. Horsey. I have no idea how Balto did it, but, as anyone can plainly see, he did.

Jacob, Kalib and Mr. Horsey, under the banner that marks the ceremonial starting line for the Iditarod.

We walked on, past the Fur Rendez carnival. Kalib had grown very sleepy.

He fell asleep in the car immediately.

I guess everybody was pretty tired.

In fact, I'm tired. Too tired to describe what is going on here.

These two had enjoyed a lovely time together while the rest of us followed Mr. Horsey about.

It was a Kalib-Jobe kind of day and it began at IHOP

I had a big day of work planned when I started to come to this morning, but Margie told me that Lavina had called and she was coming out with Kalib and Jobe. Lavina hadn't eaten, was hungry and wanted to meet us for breakfast at IHOP.

So I took a shower and then off we went to IHOP. We had not been there long before Kalib decided that the table was rather bland and so began to shake salt and pepper all over it.

His mom put a stop to it.

Kalib could have tripped the waitress and caused her to spill coffee and Pepsi all over the floor, but he didn't. Despite his mischievous, rambunctious nature, he must be a good boy, or else he certainly would have.

Jobe was with us at breakfast, too, but you couldn't see him because he was in his car seat and there was a blanket draped over it. Right after we entered the house, Lavina removed the blanket.

Royce observed. Wouldn't it be nice if Royce could raise another baby, just like he raised Kalib?

Momma and son. Do you think they have a connection?

Gramma and grandson. Do you think she loves him?

Margie bestows love on two grandsons at once. Caleb studies Jobe to see if maybe he has grown enough to begin to learn how to golf.

Caleb decides that, indeed, Jobe is ready to begin learning the fundamentals of golf. At the fundamentalist level of golf is a golf ball.

"Golfball," Caleb coaches. He documents the moment on his iPhone so that the technique with which Jobe observed the ball can be reviewed later.

Thanks to Uncle Caleb, Kalib already knows about a golfball and about clubs, too. He grabs a club and then his uncle hands him a ball.

Kalib studies the lay of the rug in preparation to make putt. Trouble is, he doesn't know where the hole is. He doesn't care. He will putt anyway.

Kalib raps the ball.

After scoring 18 holes in one, Kalib spots his mom outside, coming into the house. I don't know what she was doing out there, but whatever it was, I'm certain she succeeded at it.

A bit later, when I was working in my office, Kalib came out and wanted to feed my fish. I gave him a fish pellet and he ate it, then smiled mischievously.

Now grandma has Jobe again.

She looks into his little mouth and sees that there are no teeth in there, yet. That's good. It could be pretty tough on Lavina if there were.

Jobe goes down for a nap in the buckskin cradle board that his Aunt LeeAnn made for him.

He dozes to the soothing strains of Haydn, played on a classical cable station.

Kalib, by the window, eating a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that Margie or Lavina or maybe both made while I was out mailing a package.

Kalib stands by his mom as she feeds his little brother. Lavina is very modest about such matters.

I could not believe it. Come evening, they left. I did get some work done today, but not as much as I had planned to. Of course, even when I work all day and all night, I never get as much done as I plan to.

This is Iditarod weekend. Lavina wants to watch dogs pull sleds tomorrow, but needs someone to babysit Jobe. Margie wants to hang out with Jobe.

How convenient.

You'll be seeing everybody again tomorrow.

A black cat is sprawled across my chest and has been for every word of this post. Somtimes, he touches the tip of my nose with his. His nose is wet and cold, as it should be.

He could pull a sled in the Iditarod if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to. He prefers to stay home and be warm.

Margie and I babysit Jobe; I pay a visit to Jason, Iqaluk, Raquel and Aanavak, down from Wainwright

I am in the car with Margie and we are nearing Jacob and Lavina's house. As is plain to see, there is more snow in Anchorage than there is here. I think it is because the way the mountains around us are situated. They scrape a lot of the snow out of the sky before it can fall on us.

That's my theory, anyway.

Laverne and Gracie must check in at the airport late Saturday night for their very early Sunday morning departure back to Arizona. The Anchorage Fur Rendezvous began today and Lavina wanted to show her sister the sights, so Margie and I went in to babysit Jobe and Gracie.

Lavina with Jobe, shortly before she and Laverne set out to explore the Rendez.

What do you think he was dreaming about?

Soon, Margie had Jobe. Jacob came home for lunch and checked him out. Gracie played with Muzzy. Those two hit it off big time.

Gracie is a great admirer of my mustache and beard. Nobody has one in her household down in Shonto, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation.

Gracie became sleepy, and went into her room to take a nap. Nobody had to put her down, she just did it on her own.

Every now and then you meet someone in this life who you wish could be there all the time, a person that you would like to see nearly every day, and say, "Hi. How you doing? Wanna go get an ice cream?" but you know that can't be. You know you will see this only every now and then, in visits separated by years.

Still, you wish.

Gracie is such a person. I will hate to see her go.

Farrell, her dad, will be thrilled to see her come home. He has spent so much time overseas in places like Kuwait, wearing the uniform for Uncle Sam, that he deserves all the time he can get with his little daughter.

Pretty soon, Jobe needed to be fed, so I held him and gave him the bottle. He guzzled it. In fact, he would guzzle three bottles before Margie and I would head home in the evening.

Margie and Jobe, Take 1.

Margie and Jobe, Take 2.

I had a few other people to see, I had to leave Margie with Jobe and the sleeping Gracie. I headed out into the heavy traffic of Anchorage.

I made a couple of stops, then headed over to the Dimond Center Hotel, because Jason Ahmaogak of Iceberg 14 and a member of my Wainwright family had come down to get some dental work done on his daughters, Raquel and Aanavak, here with their mother, Iqaluk.

The family had been out to Fur Rendez, where the temperature was a warm 20 compared to in the -25 to -40 range back in Wainwright, where it had been mighty windy, too. So they wandered about dressed in light clothing, marveling at the warmth, and they say they got a few stares.

Because of their dental work, the girls had to eat soft food, but when they saw some Chicken McNuggets, they wanted them. Jason bought them some and cut them into tiny, tiny, pieces.

Soon, Jason says, they will be eating maktak and other Iñupiaq foods. They will need their teeth for that.

Jason and Aanavak, Take 1.

Jason and Aanavak, Take 2.

I then went back to Jacob and Lavina's, hoping to get a shot of Kalib and Jobe together, but Jobe was asleep. Kalib was helping his dad prepare dinner.

He was making enough for all of us, but Margie and I had to leave, so we didn't get to eat any of it.

We will go back Saturday, to do some more baby-sitting while Laverne and Lavina go watch the sled dog races.

I still hope that maybe some of that cold air will slip down here before Laverne and Gracie leave, but I saw a picture on the news of a low-pressure system spinning this way from out of the South Pacific, so I doubt it.

Jobe on the phone, a biker in the snow, along with other big vehicles; blogging with Jimmy

I can't believe it! It is now already two full weeks since Jobe was born. And I have not laid eyes upon him for 12 days. I have missed him every single one of those days - just as I have missed his big brother, Kalib. As I waited in the drivethrough at Metro today, I heard the text message tone go off in my iPhone.

It was this picture, sent by Lavina.

Jobe is growing so fast and I am missing it all. 

But, weather permitting, Margie and I plan to drive into town after we get up. We will see him again.

Finally, a little new snow. The temperatures are still warm - mid 20's today. Sadly, Laverne is going to take Gracie back to Arizona and the rez on Sunday and unless Nature gets her act together fast, when everybody asks if she froze in Alaska, Laverne will have to say it was warm the whole time she was here.

What fun will that be?

Of course, it's always warm when it snows. It can't snow when the temperature is cold. Maybe we will all get lucky and some cold weather will come just before Laverne and Gracie leaves.

My friends up on the Slope have been experiencing brutal weather lately.

That's what they tell me on Facebook. Nobody has said anything about temperatures. They have just said that it has been cold and windy. And when an Arctic Slope Iñupiat states on Facebook that it is cold and windy, you can pretty much believe its true.

Especially if they say, 

"Alapaah!"

A bit further along, I saw this school bus.

And then this snow plow.

Two nights ago, I mentioned how I was typing away with my good black cat buddy, Jimmy, sprawled across my chest. I also noted that I have had a great deal of time to practice this technique.

So tonight, I started working on my blog and, once again, there was Jimmy, sprawled across my chest, except that this time he was lying on his side.

I decided that I might as well try to photograph the scene, so that my readers will know that I do not lie or exagerate. So here I am, typing, working on this very blog post as Jimmy sprawls across my chest.

And I am taking a picture, too.

This is what is known as "multi-tasking."

Jimmy and I are good at it.

Jimmy sits up to think about things. Jimmy likes to think. He is a thinking cat. He is not quite as deep-a-thinker thinking cat as Thunder Paws was, but still, he is a thinking cat.

He thinks about many things.

He is very bright.

He is a bright cat.

A bright black cat.

He then executes a maneuver that would distract a lesser blogger, but, as you can see, I blog on, undettered. My powers of concentration amaze me.

Jimmy and I, blogging together.

Jimmy. My good black cat buddy.

What a character. What a friend.

How could I even do this blog without him?

I sit facing the door; I see people come and go, I witness a man buying a newspaper; Jobe gets a bath

I took breakfast at Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant and was seated at a table by myself, as Margie had already eaten oatmeal. I faced the door. From this amazing vantage point, I was able to observe this man buy a newspaper.

I also saw this woman and this little girl exit, hopefully with their bellies full.

This man entered, hungry, I assume.

And then along came this little girl, followed by two people who appeared to be her parents. I'll bet that she was very excited to be eating out with them.

These two gentlemen entered and then stood there, waiting to be seated, as one of them spoke to someone on his cell phone. I don't know who he was speaking too, but I have a hunch it was President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Although this post will not appear until Sunday, right now it is Friday night. As soon as I finish it, I will make another, short, simple one and schedule it to appear Monday. I've got a very important task that I absolutely must finish up over the weekend and I am still recovering from the birth of Jobe and the mad round of blogging that I did afterward, so that is why I am clearing the weekend to be free of blogging. 

I will, of course, keep a camera with me through the weekend.

In fact, this final image is an example.

Come the evening of the day this post is scheduled is scheduled to go up, one full week will have passed since I last saw my new little grandson, Jobe. Lavina did text this iPhone pic of him getting a bath to my iPhone and I found it Saturday morning and attached it to this post.. As you can see, he has grown tremendously.

He is a veritable giant now.