Friday, May 4, 2012
Well, hold on now. The Fisherman got a message on his phone from a ministry he's travelled with for mission trips to Africa. This past March in Ethiopia he split his repsonsibilities between the prayer room for the medical mission and photography. He was the trip photographer. They like his work so much that he has been granted scholarships to go on several trips a year. These trips cost a couple thousand dollars each so this is a huge blessing. The message he received said it was urgent. Turns out, the photographer scheduled to go on the Zimbabwe trip - in just 20 days - cancelled. They need a photographer pronto! We spent the day getting details, going to a public library to print emailed documents, filling out a visa application, getting visa photos taken, buying a money order and getting that all shipped off at the post office by overnight mail to the Embassy. The Fisherman's going to Zimbabwe!

Oh. Wait a minute. That means I'm going to be here in Alaska by myself. Yikes! Actually, it's going to be fine. We're not sure yet where I'll stay, but I'll be fine. I'll be camping, just like we do together, but we just have to select the safest place for me to do that alone. We'll be set up at the school by then.  Area schools arrange for summer campers to stay on the campus in exchange for use of electricity and sometimes showers. Their presence deters summer vandalism. The Fisherman's school is right in town but joins up to wooded areas on three sides of the soccer field at the back. He once woke up in the night to a bear sniffing at the back doors of the van. The Fisherman banged on the side of the van and scrambled for a look in the sideview mirror. What he saw was the backside of a bear sauntering away. Even though it was an uneventful encounter, we're not exactly sure we want me staying in that location alone.

Since the day was mostly shot with all the sudden Zimbabwe stuff we had to do, we decided to pursue the tire purchase. Back and forth we went between the dealership and Sears Automotive. The dealership had the best price but they only had one tire in stock. One. Sears had plenty in stock and would give us the Ford price if we had a quote from Ford. Sears' tires were already 1.5 years old just sitting on the rack. Hmmm. Do we wait for Ford until Monday (when I have to show up to work on Tuesday 120 miles away) or do we take old tires now? Back to Ford for advice and ultimately the quote. Now it's too late to get done tonight. Tomorrow. We did manage a couple hours downtown. We thought everything would be closed but it turns out it was First Friday!  All the galleries were open until 8:00. Yeah. Camped in Anchorage again.