Timber Tales     Week 11

I am sorry I missed you all last Thursday. I was here making lots of noise but there was no Internet connection.

I told you last week about the many downhills and the sled going really fast. We were in the community that Artur, my new Chukchi friend is from. It's the one the guys call ''Yanks' - but the name is really 'Yanrakynnot.' You pronounce it JaaanWrakiiii-n-Ot. It sounds best if you really howl out that first part. I learned that from my many friends there. See, I actually ended up staying in Yanks while the rest of the gang took off to Laverentiya. Mille cried a lot the morning they took off. I tried to lick her tears and talk lots to her to let her know that she would be ok. I mean, I have worked with Disko for several years now about how to look out for polar bears, and both Jupiter and Goodie have been doing great at picking up on how to be on the look out as well. They may not be quite ready to stand up to a bear - that takes many years of training and a lot of courage if I may say so myself - but Sable would do that. She is not afraid of anything! And I know she can pull that sled out of anything too. Besides from that, Peto was still going to be along, so he agreed to take over the morning howl on his own.

I have been staying with Artur's wife. She is incredibly nice. One day it was a bit stormy outside and she brought me into the house. I am thinking maybe she wanted some company since Artur was on the trail with the rest of the gang.  I was surprised to see my name written right there on the wall. At first I thought maybe she was sort of a fan - reading Timber Tales I mean - but then that is before I knew there is no Internet connection in Yanks. I am sure Mille did not realize that before they took off or she would have come up with some sort of plan for how I should be able to do Timber Tales.

Anyway, I had a lot of visitors all week wanting to hear stories, so that was fun. I have a new girlfriend too. She is still just a puppy, but she is very cute and smart. Her name is Chaplino. Well, really, that's the name the gang gave her when they showed up again. Artur knows her owner who lives in New Chaplino, so I guess that makes she is really from New Chaplino and that is why the guys decided to call her that.

I was of course very excited to see them all again. Aaron and the nice fellow Jeff Sipper who came training with us this fall was along with Paul and Mille now. Domino told me Jeff and Aaron showed up in Laverentiya. When Baffin was a puppy he stayed with Jeff and his family - so he is basically like family to us Polar Huskies. And I was more than excited to get back in the harness again and back out on the trail. As nice a stay as I had in 'Yanks' I just love running with the gang. I told Chaplino all about it - and sure enough, she came along!! I gather there are some stories I have to catch up with now, for one, something about a bear!? More on that next week when I have the details for you...