I’m now on the flip side of the balance, not a bad thing at all. We woke up in Glacier Country – I climbed to the top of a large mound of gravel as did the dogs. I looked around, had a good view of the Alaska Range. This was, I thought, a good way to start a new day.

It went quickly this morning, from being cloudy to being sunny. There was a breeze, which was a good thing because this kept the bugs down.

We headed in the direction of the town of Delta after striking camp and eating breakfast. My head and neck felt fine. I called our friend Mary Sackinger when we got to Delta. She said she’d meet us at the Safeway Parking Lot in Fairbanks.

We encountered some construction on the drive through North Pole. I noted that the parking lot of the Santa gift shop was full. And this was July – hmmm. I’d decided that I should on this trip up my road equipment I.Q. Now I know that I do know what every three year old male knows, that is what a bulldozer, excavator, road grader, and back front end loader look like. There was a time when I would not have admitted this to Pete. The ruse ended some time ago – he thinks I’m generally stupid and I no longer feel like I have to hide this from him. I no longer care.

We ate lunch at the Birch Tree rest area, which is right next to the road. I sat on a bench by the small lake and, ignoring the traffic sounds, ate my lunch. I watched small fish jump and an eagle soar overhead. I also observed eight ducks, now adolescents, paddle in my direction; I think they were in search of food. The ducks waddled up onto the grass, but seeing as I had nothing in hand for them, backed off and resumed swimming. I thought, there’s a food chain here – the fish eat the insects, the ducks eat the fish, and the eagles eat the baby ducks.

We met Mary as planned, in the Safeway Parking Lot. I rode with her, and we played haven’t seen you let’s catch up on horsey stuff.

We got to her place and unloaded the horses and put them in a panel pen that Mary and our friend Teresa had set up earlier. As the horses ate, Mary, Pete, and Teresa added a few more panels. Raudi was the first to introduce herself to Birkney, Stormur, and Yelma. She stepped up to where the three were standing, squealed, then walked off, returned, and again did the same thing. Hrimmi and Tyra walked in the direction of the fence, and Raudi, ears pinned back, drove them back in the direction of their hay. The analogy of the fourth grade lunchroom again came to mind.

Mary had to go, so we’ll go for a ride tomorrow. We’re going to stay put here for a few days. It’s been good already, seeing friends and talking horse.

Next: 193. 717/25: Balance?