Timber Tales      Week 06

It seems that this has been another week of snow blocks. The last thing I heard was that we need to have blood taken and get shots. I don't mind shots... I don't like them, but I understand the Dog Doctor does this to take care of us.

Anyway, it has been quite a week. For starters, all those little Iditarod dogs left. Nome is really quite without them here. We do our part though and remind everyone that we are STILL here. Waiting. Sometime patiently. Sometimes not.

Making noise paid off one day. A new friend of Paul's, Karluk I think is his name, came by with a huge gift for us!!

See, when the Iditarod people left with their dogs, they were very generous and gave all their left-over food to Karluk. Now this wasn't people food. This was dog food. And this wasn't your every-day run of the mill dog food. This was meat. And you know what? We LOVE meat! As a matter of fact, we go a little crraaaazyyyyy for it!

I heard that when we get to Chukotka, we are going to get to eat walrus. Maybe not every day, but every once in a while. I haven't had walrus before. But I'm sure it is really good. I'm looking forward to trying it. I like to try new foods.

I'm also looking forward to trying Reindeer Candy. I heard Sable telling Baffin how reindeer and caribou are cousins. It just so happens that one of my favorite foods when we are out on the trail is Caribou Candy. Sometimes Paul yells at me because I run too slow, or I just stop running all together. But I can't help it! I need to stop and eat the candy the caribou have left behind. The other dogs like it too... but nobody likes it as much as I do.

Freja likes it almost as much as I do. But Freja will have to wait until next year to have any. See, a week ago she got a little antsy (she doesn't like to wait) and decided to go on her own expedition. I told her it wasn't a good idea because weird things can happen. Believe me. I know! I didn't always live in the Polar Husky Kennel. When I was little I lived in Nevada. I decided to do a little exploring and I got lost in a flood. It's a long story. Weird things can happen when you are on a solo-expedition.... and Paul ended up finding me in a pool! And not a pool in Nevada, but a pool in Michigan by the Polar Husky Kennel!

Well, enough about me. Freja wouldn't listen and went on her own expedition. Two days later a very nice man who has traps up in the mountains brought Freja home. She told me she had a wonderful trip, but then she got a little confused and ended up with her paw in this man's trap. Paul had a Dog Doctor look at it and it isn't broken which is really good. For a few days Paul gave her lots of paw-baths and kept a very close eye on it. But they decided that even though the paw is not that swollen anymore, it is best for Freja to go home to the Polar Husky Kennel in Michigan for the next few months. She has a frost-bite on that paw and in the long run, it will be better for her and her paw to be out of the cold so that it can heal just perfect.

That's why I love Paul. Even though Freja is the best lead dog here (I can't imagine going on the trip without her!) he knows the best thing for her is to go home and heal. This way she will be all better and able to go with us to Fenoscandia next year. I'm not entirely sure where or what that is. If I had to guess, it would be somewhere near where Mille grew up.

Maybe Mille, Paul, Aaron or even that nice guy Jeff will collect some Caribou Candy for Freja. I'd tell you that I will and that I will share it with her...but I know I'll eat it before we get back to Michigan in June.

I need to go now. The ravens are back! Have I told you how I love birds? I think only Lightning loves birds as much as me! She may be a youngster but she doesn't miss a bird that girl. She perks up and Mille yells 'there's a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiird' and we all go as fast as we can, ears back, tails in the air with Mille laughing behind us. I love stories about birds too! Any stories. There are some really cool stories over in the Traditional Stories section in Chukotka under the Logistics tab. You should check them out. There is even one with a raven. Oh! I need to go! Since there aren't any Polar Bears here I am telling everyone when the ravens come around. Gotta bark!