An ancient logical problem focuses on a farmer returning from market, where she purchased a goat, a wolf and a cabbage.

She can make them behave as long as they’re within reach, but if she leaves them alone the goat will munch the cabbage and the wolf will devour the goat.

To return home with her groceries she needs to cross a river in a very small boat, just big enough to carry herself and one of her purchases.

How does she safely transport everything across the river?

Our problem is different: Great Dane, Contractor, Bathroom, Winter.

The Great Dane is, of course, Sadie, our regal nine-and-a-half-year-old harlequin queen, a tall hunk of dog weighing about 140 pounds.

Our Contractor is Can, a soft-spoken Vietnamese who is deathly afraid of dogs.

The Bathroom is my ancient toilet facility, one of the two remaining eyesores in our house (my office is the other).

Winter is, of course, the season: cold.

Sadie and I hate cold.

But Can and his crew need to go in and out of the house a lot, carrying out crap from the demolition phase and bringing in cabinetry and pretty new fixtures.

So the side door often stays open, furnace off, cold air blasting in, while Sadie and I huddle under blankets. Even Suzette, who is better insulated than us animals, thinks it’s cold.

We’ve bisected the house with barriers of chairs and a bookcase to isolate Sadie from Can.

Twice a day, Sadie leaves the house to stroll around the neighborhood. Suzette walks her in the morning and I walk her in the afternoon.

On these occasions, Sadie dresses warmly: a handsome red jacket and socks and boots for her back feet. (She needs footgear because arthritis and muscle deterioration cause her to drag her back feet as she walks.)

Can watched Suzette dress her up one day and told Suzette, “I hope in my next life I come back as your dog.”

Anyway, all this confusion—Great Dane, Contractor, Bathroom, Winter—has cut into my flying. Although, to be honest, Winter is the biggest culprit. As I said, I hate cold.

I did get out to Baylands the other day, though, and chatted with Oscar Yatco, who flies helicopters and airplanes every weekday at Baylands.

“Did you fly yesterday when it rained?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “When I got here it wasn’t raining and there was no wind. It was pretty nice. When the rain started I left, but came back in the afternoon to fly some more.”

Oscar’s an iron man, I think.

I’ll be back when the confusion abates and the sun decides to reassert itself.

(Wondering about the answer to the Goat-Wolf-Cabbage-Boat problem? Wondering why the farmer bought herself a wolf? Hint #1: The goat is her first passenger. Hint #2: As she criss-crosses the river, she sometimes brings something back. Hint #3: She is about to begin a bathroom remodel project and her contractor is afraid of wolves.)

River crossing illustration from “Introduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms” by Anany Levitin.

Tags: Flying, Life, People.

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