Iditarod time...

i still have to look at a few from the Ceremonial start in Anchorage. the big camera. it was -7 with a wind chill down town.  i wandered around until they started to run and then i headed closer to home to a turn that tends to make for some great crashes. 

there wasn't a big group headed out the next day and my back has been a bit sore these past weeks so this was the first year i've skipped the restart in Willow. only 38 teams so the drive i think kept some folks from wanting to go. Dallas is back in this year.  will he get another win...he's hard to beat. 

i get the Iditarod insider on their web site so that gives me access to videos.  last night i watched the restart in Willow. not too exciting.  one dog seemed to get loose as the team took off.  never heard anything about that so they must have got it caught and back in line.  another time a guy, who was helping hold the team, got pulled under the dogs as they were getting excited to take off. as the dogs took off he got pulled out the other side by other crew.  no mention of that.  the announcer seemed to be doing this for the first time.  she had difficulty pronouncing some of the names.  i mean names of veterans, she was just reading.  she'd even start with "this says...". oh well.  hopefully, a new generation of crew are getting installed.  the race has changed over the years...like most stuff, kinder, gentler. less wild like it once was. more safe for dogs and humans overall. always a risk though

the moose are always a risk. near where i was it looked like a moose held up the teams for the ceremonial start.  i suspect it was the same moose that i encountered later that day at the dog park. that is where i have my spot. right by the park. i went home grabbed the dogs  and headed back.  Sunny took off...there was a moose. that moose was annoyed and Sunny got charged a few times. i yelled and ran the other direction which got Sunny to come back. he was leashed the rest of the walk

every so often i question...should i let them run free or should i leash them. dogs have short lives and i really do not want them to have an even shorter life. it makes me nervous any close encounters like this, in the summer there are also bears out there. i lean towards more off leash fun for them than not.  more in winter than summer. the bears...they can kill me to. those dogs run much faster than me. i suspect humans have these sort of issues with human kids.  how much freedom? when do you protect, when do you let them learn?  i would be heartbroken if anything happened, but i think their lives would be less joyful if i let fear of what may happen limit their activities at all times. 

Dallas had another run in with a moose rather quickly on the trail to Nome.  i guess an angry moose was giving the teams grief out there. one musher slugged the moose in the nose.  makes me think the moose was close but passing. Dallas much have had a more dangerous encounter. one of his dogs ended up having to be shipped to the ER in Anchorage.  Dallas shot the moose.  the rules are that you dress the moose out i guess. anyone that comes behind helps. the moose blocked the trail anyway.  

the dog has been discharged from the hospital, the moose...just discharged. 

i won't have nearly the number of photo's of dogs like most years.  i have a lot of dog photo's.  it is fun and hopefully, next year we have a bigger crew for the restart run.  this week i start doing 2 shifts/week so that may help my general aches. slowing down on the heavy lifting.  

will ponder some other job to make up a bit of the money loss perhaps, or i could pick up random shifts.  we shall see. i'm not that excited to pick up more shifts overnight. 

it may be nice to do some totally different work.  no clue yet. just getting more and more ready to wean myself off of the hospital work. 

enjoying reading more. getting my steps/walks in.  yesterday felt more lazy.  thank you LS for stopping by to help me get the outside dog kennel back up after the wind had blown it over and snow had covered it up.  i did get the dogs out for a leash walk...which is good training. 

not sure what i'll do with my extra free day tomorrow.  probably be terrified that they will call and say i didn't start the two day week and i better come in to work. i'll probably look at the schedule again tomorrow morning to make sure. 

i did manage to get some days in Homer scheduled for April, May and July.  so that will be good. the web site has been strange. sometimes just saying no rooms available, when i called them, there were rooms available.  also room 12, sl cheaper before the season starts wasn't listed. anyway, the call got me sorted out and she said they would check the computer site. make sure there aren't glitches. so we have 3 escapes for low tides at the Driftwood. 

watched a series about these "schools" for difficult teenagers.  many of them are by the same guy but he rebrands them and restarts them when the cruel and abusive stuff gets places shut down.  the girl who did this series was at one that's been shut down. they just walked away from the place and so this girl and others who had been forced into this place have gone in there and removed records and video. crazy it was all just left behind. 

anyway. there is a bit of a Mormon connection in that the family/guy who seems to own a large number of these programs is or was Mormon? there are 100's of these programs/schools in Utah. these guys donate a lot to Republicans mostly. there has been a lot of abuse of all sorts.  one guy was breaking down about his treatment.  he started a riot, ended up in prison and said prison was a cake walk compared to the cruelty of this "school".  their education was not accredited and so those who ended up graduating had a worthless diploma. Utah is like the point of origin for much of it.  the programs cost little to operate as they often feed very little, use the kids for labor, have poor or no training programs for employees. it's a cash cow.  now they are even doing programs focused on adopted kids/foster kids so they can get government money. 

it's almost like the parents are duped. sounds almost like the parents are the cult members, believing all the hype of a fix.  giving over power/control of their kids. not being allowed to really have much contact/visits.  the kids are just the victims. often the kids get taken from their homes by staff that literally kidnap the kids.  strip searches, violence, abuse, which is mental, emotional, sexual and physical. 

lot of post program suicides, drug overdoses. so whatever "fix" they say they give is generally temporary. these kids later will be hesitant to get help since the help turned out to be a hell. anyway, i think it was called Program, con, cult...something like that.  interesting. 

today was beautiful.  i ended up going out to N. Biv and doing the big loop. then i just took a drive down Turnigan Arm. turned around after Girdwood.  just a pretty day.  lots of reflections.

as the weather warms and the roads improve...it's a great time to wander a bit further from home.  we all get a bit of the cabin fever.  some fly out, hit some warm places when it's cold here.  this is one of my favorite times. still snow and frozen lakes, more light...lots of fun things to do. 

spring seems to come rushing towards us once the fur rondy is done and the dogs take off to Nome

mostly, right now, it still looks like this. 

i like the white stuff so i'm okay with that.  it warmed into the 30's today.  

Portage Lake is still frozen from reports...tempting to head out there tomorrow. who knows.  depends on what i feel like doing tomorrow. what the weather looks like.  i tend to go where it looks best. 

these guys could care less.  i also want to avoid too moosey areas after Sunny's last run in.  that really does stress me out though.  brat. 

later i dropped an empty bottle near him and he about flew out of his skin...so that terrifies him but charging a moose and having said moose charge back...fun! 

luckily he does move fairly quickly...but so do the moose. these are from the Ceremonial start.  the dog park is about 100 feet behind those viewers.  this corner is action filled. 

lots of spills and near misses. also you can watch the experienced teams take this curve with ease and skill. 

i took lots of video's. fun to catch them flying. 

this one above is from todays drive. the pictures get all mashed once i put them on the computer. 

this team is stopped because there's been a spill. 

above is again from today's drive.  look at that reflection! wow!

this is Ivy attempting to retrieve a tennis ball.  down there deep is a small creek. the ball was not recovered, but she did give it a valiant effort. she always does

this shot below was supposed to load first.  can't always tell what will happen when i load shots. 

grateful for: A. all the fun Alaskan experiences like watching these teams every year. B. friends to hang out with. C. dogs, dogs and more dogs.