Winter Time

There is just something to the great Northland. Man is it pretty out there! When I walked outside in the early morning hours, the luminous moon shed its silvery light across the newly fallen snow. The hush in the air excited me...like the Earth was holding her breath in anticipation of a new day, like that first present on Christmas morn. I started the car to warm it before my trek to town and headed back to the porch. As I gazed up, I was thrilled to see the starburst pattern of a few buds of the aurora, opening up into ribbons that spread across the sky. No matter how long I'll live, I'll never get over the wonder and beauty of watching the Northern Lights as they perform their ballet across that indigo stage. Breathtaking! Aww...it's a good day to be alive and living in the North.

Training is going well. The dogs are getting conditioned for the upcoming season, hard pulling; but, great for them. The trails have about 9 inches of mushy snow, like porridge and the warm temps make it hot for the furrier huskies in the team. Flashbacks to the Cantwell Classic!! Ha ha ha! However, it's great to get some trail breaking in and get the dogs used to soft, punchy trails. Then, we'll just need to alternate between those and the hard, fast trails to prevent injuries this year. All in all, things are looking good. Zen & Feather led the team for today's run, even though both girls have been giving Manny fits. Guess they figured out that their girly antics weren't going to work....that Manny was going to make them lead regardless of a heat cycle or not. Both girls led wonderfully, not giving Manny a single problem today. In fact, even with the soft trails, Manny said that the dogs really picked up on the run, doing even the rough section of trail faster than normal. Right on!! :o) These veteran dogs never cease to amaze me.