We arrived in Alaska Saturday…but that’s hard to believe. In Alaskan Standard Time, we landed in Anchorage’s airport at 2:59 pm, but in eastern time, it was 7:00 pm. I didn’t sleep a wink on the trip here. We stopped at Seattle before continuing our flight to Anchorage. I suggested that we should have some pizza but Mom told me, “Never get any pizza in Seattle! Get fish instead. Another good thing here is coffee and mocha.” So then I suggested some clam chowder. Mom is a vegetarian and there was bacon in the chowder! Then we got back on the plane and they gave us a cheese pizza, a Twix bar, and a green salad w/ranch dressing.
Sunday morning, I saw Kim Darst, and the dog handlers named Jean, Diane, and my mom, Sandy. I helped feed the dogs and they were angels! Kim is the first Iditarod musher from NJ and one of the reasons I’m here is because my mom and I are supporting her. I just finished breakfast and it was awesome! It is a chilly snowy day.
Monday, March 2, 2009
DOG DROPS 101
On Sunday my husband awoke and made a brilliant observation about me, “Wow, you’re not lazy, apparently you’ve just been living in the wrong time zone!” This was his take on the fact that by 6:00 a.m. I was up and outfitted and eager to head out into the dark cold morning. In our real life that role is usually his - I’m the one who hits the snooze alarm many times and always sleeps until the LPM (last possible minute). So maybe it was the time difference that had me feeling so eager to start the day…but I don’t think it’s that simple.
Outside in the hotel parking lot was a dog truck filled with 18 well-conditioned dogs that I hadn’t seen since summer. Not just random dogs, but an Iditarod dog team of canine friends that I made when they were not “working”, but staying cool in their air conditioned kennel in NJ waiting for their fun to resume in the fall.
Since September these athlete dogs have been in regimented training, and had to leave NJ and head to a northern climate to facilitate it. I’ve genuinely missed them. For months I’ve thought about seeing them again – not romping around their play yard with me there trying to memorize their names as they’d buzz by me, but this time primed and ready to do what they REALLY do. These dogs are ready to run 1,000 miles across Alaska next week… and they were right outside waiting for breakfast. How could I sleep when Kim, their musher-mom, would actually let me help with the “dog drop”??
“Dropping dogs” in this sense means taking them out of their straw-lined warm & cozy crates within the truck for meals, a stretch, and to relieve themselves. The politics of this process are almost comical. There is a pecking order, as well as certain nuances about who can be tied-out near whom, and quirks specific to individual dogs…they do in fact have personalities! And I am sure that those dogs are laughing right back at me!
So I got to help with the morning dog drop, the dinner drop and the bedtime drop. Each time I got a little more confident in what I was doing – and each time I left knowing that the dogs were still laughing at me. ..and so was Kim. I really appreciate her patience and easy-going nature. She knows I care about the dogs and I’m not going to do anything unsafe for them or me…and so she trusts me with her “babies” and quietly stands by inconspicuously spotting me as I reacquaint myself with her team. I’m proud to report that I never lost my knack for scooping poop . And Kim’s no fool…since I’m so good at that she let me carry the heavy bucket filled with food/water for the dinner drop – and by evening I was upgraded to, “Since you love hugging him so much, YOU can pick him up and put him back in the truck.” Translation: "Lift this very muscular dog (who is laughing at you) and put him through a narrow hole that is a few feet over your head…and don’t hurt HIM."
Outside in the hotel parking lot was a dog truck filled with 18 well-conditioned dogs that I hadn’t seen since summer. Not just random dogs, but an Iditarod dog team of canine friends that I made when they were not “working”, but staying cool in their air conditioned kennel in NJ waiting for their fun to resume in the fall.
Since September these athlete dogs have been in regimented training, and had to leave NJ and head to a northern climate to facilitate it. I’ve genuinely missed them. For months I’ve thought about seeing them again – not romping around their play yard with me there trying to memorize their names as they’d buzz by me, but this time primed and ready to do what they REALLY do. These dogs are ready to run 1,000 miles across Alaska next week… and they were right outside waiting for breakfast. How could I sleep when Kim, their musher-mom, would actually let me help with the “dog drop”??
“Dropping dogs” in this sense means taking them out of their straw-lined warm & cozy crates within the truck for meals, a stretch, and to relieve themselves. The politics of this process are almost comical. There is a pecking order, as well as certain nuances about who can be tied-out near whom, and quirks specific to individual dogs…they do in fact have personalities! And I am sure that those dogs are laughing right back at me!
So I got to help with the morning dog drop, the dinner drop and the bedtime drop. Each time I got a little more confident in what I was doing – and each time I left knowing that the dogs were still laughing at me. ..and so was Kim. I really appreciate her patience and easy-going nature. She knows I care about the dogs and I’m not going to do anything unsafe for them or me…and so she trusts me with her “babies” and quietly stands by inconspicuously spotting me as I reacquaint myself with her team. I’m proud to report that I never lost my knack for scooping poop . And Kim’s no fool…since I’m so good at that she let me carry the heavy bucket filled with food/water for the dinner drop – and by evening I was upgraded to, “Since you love hugging him so much, YOU can pick him up and put him back in the truck.” Translation: "Lift this very muscular dog (who is laughing at you) and put him through a narrow hole that is a few feet over your head…and don’t hurt HIM."
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