Isn’t Sigurd cute! and Lynn too…. we have started training the almost one year old Amaroq pups, taking them on sled runs and they have been doing well. Some have gone alone with the little wooden basket sled including Wing and Osa and Susi and Monk have gone out with four dogs teams on the Raventrail. Monk took to it like a veteran and Susi was really getting it by the end. They will be celebrating their one year birthday on March 20. The next youngest, almost 2 year olds, Amaroq, Tulugak and Mooz have been running regularly in the teams and are doing great. Elder Lydia, 12 years old, and I went skijoring this week and she did great. The trails are still doing well as we have spent quite a bit of time grooming and conditioning them. This full moon weekend was so meaningful and special as we had Chris Heeter join us for the 30th anniversary of my first litter: Hildur and Petra. At that time I had no idea that two years later it would lead to Wintermoon Dogsledding or that 30 years later I would still be loving running huskies. Our group was long time friends Rhonda and Deb and first timers, mother and daughter Erin and Hannah from St. Louis. What a wonderful combination and what Wintermoon is about, old and new musher friends. I have been guiding with my dear friend Chris for 25 years and she is a sister in the outdoors and adventure path, so I wanted to share what we love and cherish with this group: wilderness. Besides fun Wintermoon mushing, we spent time at Sigurd Olson’s Listening Point, the Wolf Center and the Brandenburg Gallery in Ely. All about wild. We enjoyed learning more about Sigurd and reading from his writings and when Chris played the native flute in his retreat cabin, we could feel his spirit. “I think the loss of quiet in our lives is one of the great tragedies of civilization, and to have known even for a moment the silence of the wilderness is one of our most precious memories.” Sigurd Olson Open Horizons For more info about Sig’s cabin and tours, listeningpointfoundation.org. One trip left, the mother and daughter next weekend. Thanks to these mothers who encourage their young daughters to spend time outdoors, with dogs, doing physical activity and to be “off the grid” ! It is by being in the outdoors and learning to love nature that we then make the effort to protect it. We love being part of the journey. We have had some wonderful trips and groups this winter and our huskies have done so well. The energy of exuberance, hard work, patience, adrenaline, freedom and joy fills the air here along with the beautiful howls of the huskies. As one woman said recently, I didn’t think about work, or bills, I was in the present moment. We all need some time to rejuvenate. Some fun ways to do that this summer: with all info on the web site Kayaking – including a Lake Superior trip (If you get a group of 6-8 together for kayaking, we’ll include a wine tasting of internationally awarded fruit wines by local winery Forestedge in Laporte, MN ). Yoga – June 2-4 and October 6-8 Carpentry workshop – June 16-18 We’ll be out in the sugarbush tomorrow, getting ready to start tapping maples. I use the dog trails to get out there and bring the sap in to boil and I am concerned that the snow will hold. We have had 3 rainfalls this winter, hard on the snow and many above freezing temps. It doesn’t feel right, I believe the scientists and will be marching, calling and writing for climate change action. Many thanks this past month to DJ, Kat (handler 2 seasons ago, now living in NY), Sabrina – NY, Laura, Mel (handler from this summer) and David for all of your help. Lynn and I really appreciate it. “I ask what motivates my life. What is the most important element in it? What brings the most enduring happiness? I know myself from this angle, and the answers are inordinately simple, for I am convinced that nature, in all its aspects and my relationship to it, is and always has been by guiding light.” Sigurd Olson Reflections from the North Country
0 Comments
|