Lake and Lady Kitty are with Michael in Alaska while I hold down the home-front. Specifically they’re in Ketchikan visiting Michael’s sister Kendra, her husband Simon, (who’s from Liverpool), and their two boys who are a bit older than Lake. They’re a lovely family, funny and relaxed and there are toys everywhere. Lake has been looking forward to this cousin time for weeks. (And Michael his sister time). It’s a wonderful scene.

Lady Kitty reports on air travel. Plane. Uh. Up. Down. Up. Down. Uh. (They encountered turbulence.) As they deplane immediately Michael senses there is less going on in the air. Notes of ocean and trees on the breeze are noticeable.

Michael needs earplugs so a trip to the store is in order. Lady Kitty beelines to the shoe aisle. She starts trying on shoes.

Uh. Too big. Uh. She opens boxes, evaluates and tries different pairs on.

She takes the pink sparkly boots she walked in wearing and lines them up on the shelf. She’s found the perfect new pair instead. She’s ready to go. The whole takes 15 minutes.

“We bought her the shoes. We had to.”