Life Observation # 44

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that take our breath away.

Ice

Iditarod Update

From the Anchorage Daily News reports:

The notorious stretch of Iditarod Trail from Finger Lake up into Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range has claimed its first victim of the year, and it's a big one.

Iditarod officials said four-time champ Doug Swingley from Lincoln, Mont. scratched from the race Monday after crashing his sled on the way into the checkpoint at Puntilla Lake. Race spokesman Chas St. George reported Swingley had possible broken ribs and a dislocated thumb.

The latter, more than the former, could make it difficult for Swingley to care for dogs; particularly in the prevailing subzero cold that often necessitates regular changes of booties on their feet. Changing dog booties with one-hand is a difficult task.

Swingley reportedly told race officials before scratching that he was concerned about his ability to take care of his team. Even if he could have managed that, however, trying to bootie dogs with one hand would have been so time consuming as to take him out of contention.

Interactive Map with standings of the mushers:

http://www.iditarod.com/flashmap/

Current Top Ten Standings

Name

Checkpoint

1

Lance Mackey

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

2

Martin Buser

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

3

Zack Steer

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

4

Aliy Zirkle

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

5

Paul Gebhardt

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

6

Sebastian Schnuelle

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

7

John Baker

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

8

Robert Sorlie

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

9

Jim Lanier

IN TO Rohn (Rone)

10

Cim Smyth

OUT OF Rainy Pass

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morrison Springs - Ponce de Leon, Florida

Image
Morrison Springs Ponce de Leon, Florida County road 181 Morrison Springs was one of our favorite dive spots on many of our Florida trips but it also had the most danger to it.  One of Northwest Florida’s best-kept secrets was known to more Georgia and Alabama folks than Floridians.  And they weren’t talking.  It had to do with the jewel of a Panhandle spring, a turquoise pool surrounded by stately cypress trees whose aerial roots stand taller than a man. Below the surface, clear, 68-degree water wells up from a spring cave source over 90 feet deep. Morrison Springs is just far enough off the beaten path in this sunny pine and cypress country to be special for any diver lucky enough to find and dive the site. The shallow pool reflects the overhead blue sky and if the water is clear and the bottom clean of silt, it resembles a giant sapphire.  Unlike some springs with a deep, black hole source, this one takes visitors gradually into its shallows from a golden-sand beach. Div
Read more

Are Showing Your Nipples Appropriate Work Attire?

Image
Let me first say that personally, I have no problem with it at all. This has been kind of a weird week here in the north land with the first of many winter snowfalls’s to come and the landscape once again beautifully covered in the white stuff. It looks like the kids will have to put their Halloween costume on over a snowsuit again this year as the cold snowy stuff is here again. That is not what I wanted to write about tonight but was necessary to set up what I did want to write about. “Frosty nipples” are quite common here during most of the year and when things cool down on the cusp of winter probably more so. Work attire with tight shirts or low cut blouses that ‘make a statement’ during colder weather could be taken several ways by co-workers or visitors to your place of business. While you may not always be taken seriously by others in the office and some may have trouble looking you in the face, I say it's a freedom of rights issue. If you want to show o
Read more

Biscuits and Whores

Image
Some of the best things about life I learned from Lonesome Dove. Great movie, excellent characters, and tells a story about how to live life. Augustus McCrae “It ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living.   I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.” I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less. “Yesterday’s gone and we can’t get it back.” “I'm sure partial to the evening,' Augustus said. 'The evening and the morning.   If we just didn't have to have the rest of the dern day I'd be a lot happier.” Hat Creek Cattle Company Well we don't rent pigs and I figure it's better to say it right out front because a man that does like to rent pigs is . . . he's hard to stop. Biscuits “I never knew you to get excited about anything except biscuits maybe . . . and whores!”    Captain Woodrow Call to Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove. Whores L
Read more