Yankee Doodle Dandy...

I've written before about how, when I'm doing something kinda boring like scraping the slushy, melting snow off the road with the tractor, odd things just pop into my head. Sometimes it's songs I hadn't heard for years, like The Shape of Things to Come (2/28/23). Well this time it was I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy. This song was written by George M. Cohan for a musical at the turn of the last century, but became a big hit in a Jimmy Cagney movie of the same name, back in the early forties. Read about it here...

https://unrememberedhistory.com/tag/james-cagney-yankee-doodle-dandy/

So the other day Jimmy was still singing in my brain when  I was cleaning up the dog yard. I started singing it to Mac, the Mackenzie River Husky pup we got a few years ago. Since Andy calls him Mackie, I changed the words a little bit, so now the song is...

Mackie Doodle Dogo...

He's a Mackie doodle dogo

He's a Mackie do or die

A real live nephew of his uncle Ray

Born on the seventh of May

Mackie doodle came to town

Just to pull a boggan

Mackie's a real good boy

Now sometimes Mac's a good boy, sometimes not so much. He sure doesn't care if I sing, cause mostly his head's buried in my pocket, at least as far in as his big head will fit, searching for a dog biscuit. But goofing with the dogs breaks up the time you're out there shoveling up dog poop, so that's a pretty good thing.

Cryosphere...

With the cold weather returning yet again, it certainly feels like we're stuck in the cryosphere.  The dictionary defines it as that part of the earth’s surface where, at temperatures below 32°F (0°C), the water is frozen solid. While even a small temperate pond that freezes over in the winter can be considered part of the cryosphere, it mostly refers to large regions covered in snow and ice for much or all of the year. Fairbanks certainly qualifies, but the way some people are reacting to this spring cold spell, it might as well be labeled cry oh dear. But for me, it's just another opportunity to get out for a dog run.

Yesterday we went out with Missy and Gus in lead. Just a short run over to sawmill hill and back. Except for a few icy spots, the trail's still in great shape.

Today it was Earl and Gus in lead. The usual excitement and cacophony hooking up and heading out of the yard, but they quickly settled down to a nice trot. A little warmer today, but still had a nice run with a cool NE breeze blowing. A fine way to end the season, again!

Last dog Run?...

While you're never really sure when it's over, it certainly looks like the dog mushing season is drawing to a close. We did get out a couple of times this week, but with the temps in the 40's today, that might be it.

On Monday's run, Missy may have taken her last run in lead. She turned twelve this year, she was born on Easter, in fact that was her name when we got her, and she's done great. But like a lot of older dogs, she's having trouble on the longer runs because she doesn't want to slow down, so probably gets more tired than she would if she paced herself. Will miss her spunk next year.

Yesterday we ran with the new leaders, Gus and Earl. It's the usual circus going out with this crew, but once we get out of the yard and over the hill, they calm down and do great.

Rudy the meathead, as he's known for his goofy antics, might have gone on his last run too. A good, dependable team dog, we got him the same year as Missy. He'll be twelve this summer and while not as driven as her, we'll miss him in the team next year.

April's Fool Weather...

April started off seasonably warm, but recently we've had a cold spell with temp's down below zero at night.  While that'd normally be a bad thing, everyone looks forward to spring, it gives me a few more weeks to run the dogs. We've also had several inches of snow, so the icy spots on the trail from the earlier warm spell have been covered up. This gives the dogs and sled a lot more traction, especially on the hills..

Taking a break on the way back home. Missy just turned twelve, we think, since we got her as an adult, and she's still running in lead like she's done for years. She's an animal!

The boys and girl on the way home. Mac and Earl are no longer pups and now run in the team as working adults. It's only when you stop that you need to keep an eye on them, especially Earl, cause you're never quite sure what he'll do, chew a line , wrestle with Gus, or just start bangin' to go. Keeps me guessing!

Yahoos!...

No, not the web services provider, it's the name I gave to the hot dog snow machine drivers. Most riders cruise the trails in the valley and move on without being noticed. But the yahoos, who mostly drive the high powered, paddle track mountain machines, have to zig zag, do burn outs, and generally tear up the trails. Now don't get me wrong, the trails are there for everybody to use, but rights have responsibility's. Don't destroy a decent, groomed trail just to get your grins. Anyway, there hadn't been too many yahoos out this year, but they showed up this week. They must have been out in the late afternoon when the trail was soft, cause it was carved pretty good and then froze hard. So it made for a rough ride on the sled, not to mention the dogs having to run on it. But the highlight was when we got out to one of the clearings. They apparently were racing back and forth away from the trail, running over the small black spruce that grow out there, when one of them hit a spruce big enough to stop him.

Not a great photo, it was overcast and starting to snow, but you can make out the main trail on the left, the new trails made by the yahoos, and the tree that stopped them. It was about 4-5" thick where it broke off, so probably it did some damage to the  machine and the driver might be hurting too. Actions have consequences, not always what you expect.

But enough on the yahoos, we did get out for some decent dog runs this week.

Gus and Earl in lead, on the way home on a rare sunny day. It seems like we've had a lot of cloudy, snowy weather this month. March is usually clear and dry up here, so maybe there's more sunny days to come!

Snowy Trails...

While we haven't had anything like the "snowpocalypse" from a year ago (Snow, Rain, Repeat...12/28/21), it seems like we've gotten a lot more snow in Feb and Mar this year. So I've either been plowing the road and driveway, or grooming the dog trail with the Ski Doo. But we did get out with the dogs to run the longer loop that heads down to Iowa Creek and back. 

Heading back from Iowa Creek, it's good to see some different terrain once in a while.

We also got the team out with Gus and Earl in lead, giving Missy a day off. While Earl at first thought it was a good time to chew on and wrestle with Gus, he soon figured out it was just another dog run and the two did fine in lead after that. So maybe they'll be the leaders we'll be needing next year, only time will tell!

The Shape of Things to Come...

 When I'm out running the dogs, sometimes a song will pop into my head, often not connected to anything going on at the time. So today it was "Nothing Can Change the Shape of Things to Come," the theme song for a B-movie about a rock star who incites teen agers to riot and take over the country. Not a big success as a movie, but then the song was released as a single and it was a modest hit on the rock charts at the time. So I guess I remember it from being played on the radio back in the day. Well it got me to thinking about the dog team and how change is inevitable. You train up a team, get a good leader or two, but then in a few years they're getting older and either age out like Barney and Spuds (Goodbye Barney...8/22/17) or die suddenly like Jabba did (Here and Gone...6/28/20). Now it's Missy and Meathead, who are gong on twelve, that are likely in their last winter in harness. Missy filled in for Jabba after he passed and while not ecstatic about being a leader at first, she's been doing quite well lately. Gus and Earl are the new leaders in training. They're both improving and you can only hope for the best, cause "Nothing Can Change the Shape of Things to Come."

Gus and Earl leading the team down the trail today. If nothing else, they're good at going straight ahead, especially on the way home!

Tales of the Trail...

 On the last dog run in January, had a beautiful run until I wiped out on the sled while crossing the bridge. I wound up off the trail on my side in a snowbank. Just figured it was driver error and didn't think too much more about it after righting the sled and enjoying a sunny ride home. 

The sun just barely clears the ridge to the south in January.

So the next time I went back there, fortunately on the Ski-Doo, the bridge is down, broken in two, right in the middle. 

Not the greatest pic, but you can see the side boards of the bridge angling down from each bank to where it broke in the middle.

When the bridge washed out a few years ago, the neighbor hauled it out of the creek with his wheeler, but the center log, the biggest one, broke free and stayed in the creek. I knew it should be replaced, but the bridge seemed OK last winter and log work wasn't high on my list of things to do. So when I went over it the last time with the dogs, it must have failed and dumped me off, but with the dogs pulling their momentum kept me going forward. I landed. on the bank instead of falling onto the frozen creek. So the project this past week was cutting a short detour to where we could build a ramp down the bank for crossing onto the pond. Now that that's done, we can be on our way, heading down the trail again!

Hittin' the Trail...

Now that I'm feeling better and the weather's cooperating, we've been getting out on the sled dog trail a lot more.

The trail's been extended out across the valley, goes over the ridge there, then loops back down to the trail that takes us home.

Andy took this video of our last run, crossing the road on the way home. It'd snowed several inches the night before, so it made for a slow run.

Now that we're running a few extra miles, the dogs are getting a lot more exercise. A good husky is a tired husky!

Earl the Squirrel...

 It's hard to believe, but Earl, the pup we got a while back (My Name is Earl 11/17/21) is now almost two years old. While he's doing quite well as a sled dog, he's also developed some unique mannerisms.

Whenever he lies down, he crosses his front legs, even when he's lying in the snow. Then he arches up his belly, just enough, so that only his lower legs and feet are touching. Never seen a dog do that before.

Now that there's a squirrel nest in a spruce tree near the dog yard, Earl's obsessed with catching it.

He runs around the tree, jumping up and down, it's pretty amazing how high he can jump, but so far the squirrel has eluded him. We're guessing one day the squirrel's going to get over-confident, he sits on the old dog houses eating his spruce cones, so he's not afraid of the nearby dogs. Then he'll become a doggy snack! (photos from Andy's iPhone)

January Cold...

No, not the weather, it's actually been pretty warm for January. It was a nasty cold I apparently caught at a local coffee house where I met my friend Bill. Normally we get stuff to go, but he wanted to eat his soup inside, in spite of how crowded it was there. Well a couple of days later I was in the soup when I woke up with a sore throat. It only got worse for the next few days and just started feeling better today. Hell of a way to start the new year.

But before I got sick, we did get out on the dog sled for the first time this winter. The new trail reroute wasn't too bad and I only hit one tree!

The sunsets are still pretty decent, but kinda early at around three in the afternoon.

Merry Christmas...

 With all the weird, crazy, and sad things going on in the world, it's great to just take a day and enjoy the good things in life. So merry Christmas to all and to all a good life.

After a snowy start to the month, it's just been cold lately. We spend much of our time hauling in wood from the stacked piles outside and stoking the wood stove.

Andy filling the wood boxes to carry inside for the stove. They say the wood heats you many times, when you cut it, split, stack, carry it in, and finally burn it. Good for the body and soul!