Icewind's Ramblings

One more dog story (news) and I’ll move on to other things . . . Over the last two weeks I started my Iditarod coverage but with all that has happened never finished so tonight I’ll give you the end . . . and the rest of the story. Jump back to the middle of March and the closing days of Iditarod 36 . . . Sled-dog racing pundits said it couldn't be done. The Thrill of Victory . . . Win the brutal 1,000-mile Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race and the punishing 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race both in one year, both — in fact — in the space of little more than a month? Impossible, you say . . . and then a hardscrabble, cancer-beating musher from Fairbanks by the name of Lance Mackey did it. But that was last year’s race in 2007. How about an instant replay this year? First the Quest was run through the Yukon Territory in Canada and in Alaska in bone-numbing, flesh-freezing 40-degree below zero temperatures that left Mackey with frostbi...

I have not been able to write this week but there have been so many things going through my brain and sorting through all of the emotions from the last several months. We are all creatures of habit . . . sometimes without totally realizing the small mundane things that make up our lives are so very much a part of what makes us happy or whole. I found myself this past week coping with the death of my Levi, my 12 year old Golden Retriever and as such have been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I found myself stepping gingerly onto the floor as in years past to not step on Levi as I awoke and not finding him under foot or within a few steps from me as I made my way around the house. There were no treats or carrots the first thing in the morning . . . no opening the door for that first morning snow angel before Levi would get to his business before I left for work each day. That time spent each morning as we went outside to start my rig so it would warm up before maki...