Pups doing well out East

Heard from John Rogers in New York yesterday that Liller's and Skinny's pups

(Isabella and Emmett, now known as Quest and Yukon) led him to two first place finishes last year.

This photo credit is to Sled Dog Central... looks like Bella and Emmett in the lead (siblings of Herman, Ruthie, Buffy, Matilda , Rosie, Kiddo, Quattro, Evalina, Josie, Medio of SPK).

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Everyone had fun

Even the good dog tried the tubing... he was enthusiastic at first, but the startup was too slow for him, so he ditched it and watched from shore. He is wonderful with all of the children and supervises their water activities very closely. For some reason he doesn't like them in the hot tub

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Family Summer Place

We had a whirlwind of activity for the past week as all of my children and grandchildren were here. It coincided with a visit to town /fundraiser for cancer with some former Green Bay Packers (Gilbert Brown and LeRoy Butler, in photo) so we added that into the busy schedule of lots of swimming, kayaking, water skiing, go go go, all ages/ all summer activities. And somehow we managed to keep all of the dogs happy too! A bit lonesome getting back to normal here.

The field ferns/ bushes are browning up a bit, growth slowing down, berries ripening, deer around the apple trees, haven't seen anymore of the bears but the berries will bring them back in. It has been hot but bearable (no pun intended). The dogs with cancer are holding their own, but the prognosis is not good. Liller's tumor was removed; Sulatna has a regrowth of her tumor and a new tumor but for now they are happy and going on runs.

Amaroq, In Memoriam, July 3, 2007

Amaroq was born on October 20, 1994. His mother, Scuba, had run the Iditarod with Susan Butcher. She arrived here, bred, on October 19th and the next day her pups were born, our first team: Amaroq, Geronimo, Nocturne, Stardust, Jasmine, Rosie, T. Merton and T. Rusty Bear. Amaroq is the lone survivor of that great team.

Amaroq was always a great dog. He ran lead and was highly competitive with his brother, Geronimo. One day we hooked up two teams and took off without Amaroq. He leaped two fences (8 feet, 10 feet), circled out ahead of us , surprising and intercepting us from the woods, far out on the trail.

He was also the great dog who broke four of my teeth one day as I was rehooking his harness having tried to get a red squirrel on our takeoff out the road. We called him Circus Dog because he could leap so high. He did lead a team down Highway 101 one night, dumping his driver, the most frightening of his episodes. A police man caught them. When I arrived he said he had never been happier to see someone . He didn't know what he would do with a dog team and a sled.

Sweet and tough and always dominant, he has succumbed to nerve deterioration in his spine. We've done extras to keep him comfortable in his aging but this is not reparable. I will miss him every day.

Godspeed, Amaroq! Thank you for many years of enjoying you.

Bears

The day after a neighbor stopped to inquire if I had seen any bears (which I had not), I was driving into my land and saw a large female bear, who, once I stopped and put down my window and said 'Hey!', stood on her hind legs, head swinging, and I saw three very small cubs scramble out of the tall grass, up the hillside. Now we know why Timber and Chena were so alert in that area just a few days ago.

We stayed out of there yesterday, but today went back on a walk down that trail... a log had been turned over and the dogs were very alert, but no signs of bears. I hope they've gone on a long walk to somewhere else. This morning I had five dogs, a bit more noise.

Needing rain

It seems that even though we have furious storms with heavy downpours, we can't get enough rain. The river is getting low again and the fields are very dry. The winds have been strong and I've lost several large trees, most recently, one at the cottage that has stood as the marker there for many years. The Pine on the Point is how it was known. Now it is down, but in its uprooting it has exposed some nice sandy beach. We will miss that beautiful Pine.

The Pine River in the photo is usually a bit faster at this spot. It was a nice lazy paddle.

Paddling the Peaceful Pine

It was pushing 90 degrees with hoo/hoo humidity, but I took my first solo paddle of the summer , The river was just a bit low, I did get slightly hung up twice, but for the most part it was a beautiful paddle. Very nice to be back to paddling. I like the Pine River the best, just out of Florence about 8 miles, on County Road N, it's an Oxbow and easy in and out. I usually see a bit of wildlife... today a couple of dragonflies hitchhiked along with me; saw several groupings of iris which are believed to have been planted by early French explorers, the fleur de lis; also quite a grouping of forget-me-nots just before the takeout. This would have been an easy river for the early explorers, a relief from rivers with more rapids and no portaging. One duck did fly over me as well, but no eagles today.