July 9: Dog-napper

Yeah, that's me. But it was with the best of intentions! My mom arrived today so I didn’t go out for the ebb pick and instead took the truck to town to seal and freeze the beginnings of Jake’s homepack, to check the mail, and to go get Mom. But on the way, I noticed a shape on the tide line. At first I thought it was a stack of rocks, but it turned out to be a black lab puppy, about 6 months old. I got out and talked to her – she came right up, friendly and wagging. No collar. Soaking wet. I looked around and didn’t see anyone fishing there, didn’t see a truck or a cabin with any activity. I thought she had chased a truck or something and ended up on the beach.

So I bundled her into the truck and when I got to the beach access road where we unlock the hubs, I asked a family there if they recognized her and they didn’t. Another person stopped there and I asked her – no. I went to the post office and saw a young woman with a little girl and asked her. “Yes,” she said, “With a pink collar? It’s my mom’s.” So I took her up to the pool, found the mom and was on my way, feeling like a virtuous Good Samaritan.

Several hours later, after collecting my mom and depositing her to Violet’s home (and taking advantage of the opportunity to visit for a little while), I returned to the cabin whereupon my crew asked if I’d found a dog and that the owner had come looking for her. Uh oh.

So I went to the owner’s cabin (in front of which I found the “lost” dog) and found that this dog might be the object of a dog custody battle… and I had just removed her from the rightful owner and turned her over to the aspiring owner. Argh. He remarked that when he retrieved her last time, she was sporting a new pink collar with a rabies vaccination tag, which made him think that someone was trying to “own” her. "Well, it's OK. Where is she now? Is she in the truck?" he asked. "Uh, well, no. Uh, she's with the lady at the pool." Dang.

So I apologized about 100 times and skulked away.

In fishing news: the catch continues to be low so Fish and Game has not given us another opener after we close at 4:30 tomorrow morning. (Violet thought it was 4 this afternoon, which was an alarming piece of news when I received it at 2 this afternoon. Maybe it was just time for me to leave, which I did, rather abruptly. However, when I reached the beach, I calmed myself with the sight of all the other setnetters’ nets still out.) This doesn’t mean that we’re permanently closed, but they want to wait for more fish to show up before they open us again. So I’ll have time to do dishes, bake bread and fulfill some Seattle-work demands.

My nephew Chris asked about some family history today. There are many Wilsons here in Naknek and many of them fish. He met Violet Wilson in Seattle and before long they identified their common fishing heritage. But when she discovered that he is part of the Moore clan, he got the impression of a feud. What I want to know is: why didn’t I know about a feud?

Bear news: tracks of a big one on the beach by the stairs. Important to look around carefully before skipping out of the cabin.