DAWSON CITY WASHINGTON

POST # 40


For folks who have been reading The Thoughtful Wanderer for a while, you'll probably think that he has finally lost touch with reality this time. Being a world traveller and having lived in Dawson City, one would suspect that I should know that Dawson City is not in Washington state. But there is a dog here named Tika who I've been telling stories to about the Yukon weather and how she would find the temperature there just right for her. She would be as happy as a clam in minus 50 degrees or more, and she would fit right in, in Dawson.

You see, Tika is a Malamute, and a very large one at that with a big bushy coat of hair which would more than compensate for colder temperatures, certainly much colder than the weather here in Everett Washington where I currently find myself. If I just focus on her, and not my surroundings, I can imagine that I am right back in the Yukon surrounded by her and other Husky dogs. But then I notice the pear and the apple tree in the back yard, both full of fruit at the moment, and I know that I am not there.

I had no idea whatsoever when I wrote my last blog that I would be here, but I am certainly happy that I am and I would like to think that Tika is as well. I was fortunate enough to find a housesit here on very short notice, and after a couple of emails back and forth and a phone call to Mary, we knew we had a match. My scheduled housesit had to cancel due to a sick cat named Jake, and Mary's housesitter had to cancel at the last moment, and so here I am.

So on September 3rd I boarded the Amtrak train from Vancouver and about three and a half relaxing hours later the Amtrak Cascades train pulled into the station at Everett, where Mary was there to greet me. Arriving in a strange place especially at night is always interesting especially if the person you arranged to meet doesn't show up. An added complication is when you have never met. But Mary did not disappoint, and we seemed to know each other right away.

One of the drawbacks, if one could call it that to this housesitting life, is that I rarely get to spend any time with the person I am housesitting for. The standard situation is that I arrive, and they leave relatively soon after. But this time Mary and I had two nights and one whole day to spend and we hit it off right away as if we have know each other all our lives. This made for a very comfortable start to the housesit and I feel like I've made a friend for life in Mary.

Mary left very early in the morning the day before yesterday and so now it's just Tika and me. Unfortunately for Tika but fortunately for me, she has a bit of arthritis which slows her down, but makes our walking pace just about right for me with my not yet back to normal leg. We make the perfect couple as we stroll along through the suburbs here in Everett. She gets to sniff at all the wonderful smells along the way and I get the opportunity to survey my new landscape.

And speaking of the landscape, it is very brown right now. Mary had mentioned to me how many days they have had without any rain and I can't remember the exact number but it seemed like a lot for the Pacific Northwest. But with the pace of climate change accelerating even faster than the climate scientists originally thought even just a few short years ago, this weather is probably going to be more common and no doubt Tika isn't going to be very happy about that. I could go on at this point about the climate, but as this blog is primarily related to my housesitting adventures, I won't. Suffice to say that like the old Bachman Turner Overdrive song from the '70's said, "BBBbaby you just ain't seen nnnothin' yet." It's all very sad, really.

Back here at the ranch, Tika is relaxing in the shade by the side of the house after her morning walk, catching whatever cool breeze that she can in order to keep as comfortable as possible. Maybe she's dreaming about cats, but she could also be dreaming about winter and snow, a time when I am pretty sure that she is most happy with the temperature. Or maybe, just maybe, she is dreaming of a place called Dawson City way up there in the Yukon, where I've told her that the temperature can get well below the minus 50 mark, and she's thinking that maybe one day she might have the chance to experience how wonderful that temperature would feel to her. But in the meantime, she's got a pretty good life right here in Everett, and I have the good fortune to be her care giver until Sept 21st, and for that I am grateful indeed.


Until next time,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer