Here I am in my last week in Kotzebue. I came here six years ago, a youthful and active 53 years of age. I feel like I'm leaving on the edge of death's door. Life in the Bush can be tough on the physical health. I take with me great memories of interesting adventures. Two months after moving to Anchorage I was still weak and wasted. My internist had me take a cardiac stress test with nuclear photos of my heart....and we learned that I'd had a heart attack. It was a small one, but the scar tissue on my heart told the tale. Also, I was anemic to the point where the doc sent me in for three liters of blood and two of saline. That explains why I'm so pale in this photo.

Nikki stays. The big city of Anchorage is no place for a Siberian with no common sense about cars and a tendency to beat the hell out of any dog that looks at her funny. I'll miss her. I've never met such a smart dog.