the upper peninsula,a dreamy place.
there are so many thoughts i've gathered up the last week or so since my adventure began, so hopefully i can remember most of them.
after driving over the bridge plus a couple of hours into the wooded womb of the UP i arrived after a six hour drive just in time for night time feeding. it was a little overwhelming being bathed in sleddogging by being roughed up by 30 dogs jumping on me as they clamored for food. perhaps this would have been a good time to tell jim, my boss i had never owned a dog in my life. i chose to hold my tongue though.
jim, is possibily one of my favorite people i've ever met. as i described him to people before meeting him as, "a gruff man with a heart of gold". and after spending several days with him i can proudly say i was spot on with my assessment. his personality is something akin to your favorite uncle, you know, the one everyone loves. he turns off the hot water when you're showering, gives you a beer before the afternoon, and liberally tosses in happy sounding cuss words as he talks to his dogs. his reputation as a well respected dog musher precedes him, and everyone i've talked to loves the guy. most often than not he finds a way to work in an iditorod or yukon quest story, which i find endlessly fascinating. most of all, though, he is one of the most patient people i've met. i was not the most qualified person for the job given. i lack most of the skills needed to make a smooth transition to the work. i hope master a whole raft of new skills after this winter, knowing how to stack bags of dog food, driving a cargo trunk laden with dogs while pulling a trailer, and making 30 little friends.
aside from running around with uncle jim things have been busy here. this weekend was the "rig session". a rig session is when numerous teams of dogs come in at the beginning of the season to practice passing other dog teams, something that will become more vital when race season comes around. each team arrives with a big truck with dog boxes to transport their team, an atv, to help run the dogs, and usually a couple of handlers to help take the dogs on and off the lines. each team runs the dogs rigged up in a similar fashion usually in teams of 11 up to 16 and the lines are attached to an atv and the dogs take off pulling the machine in a weight training fashion. another big reason for the get together is its a central place to get cheaper rabies vaccinations. which leads me one of my favorite gems so far.
a slight diversion from the rig session. i should add my first little UP lesson here. even more than lower michigan, or other rural places i've lived (tennessee for that matter) people up here enjoy drinking really cheap beer while doing manual labor.
by the time late saturday afternoon rolled around at camp ozone there where about 100 dogs and 30 people populating camp either waiting for the vet to come or were preparing to run their dogs. rick arrived about three and promptly started preparing to stick the 80 or so dogs that where up for their boosters. i have never seen someone so speedy and nimble administering shots, he seemed to have it all down to a single motion. i followed the vet as he made his rounds through our kennel noticing he was carrying something brown in his hand that he would periodically hand to a person beside him and then administer a shot before having it handed back to him. only when i came closer did i realize rick was doing all of the shots while sipping back on a michelob light!
other highlights i may write about in the future (i'm currently alone here with animals until friday include):
going to a dog mushing potluck following the rig session (savory characters)
riding shotgun with uncle jim while having a dog team pull us on an four wheeler
my apartment, attached to the barnspace
my dislike of horses, which unfortunately live next door
poop scooping: a primer on dog nutrition
wheeled machine culture
as of right now, since its only my second week of work and i'm alone, my only tasks will be daily feeding and atv exploring!
ps. jim owns two indoor house cats!
