They have to wait for further tests to find out. Usually it is related to eating – inhaling food while eating and getting pneumonia as a result, is the most common. If it is a hidden problem, Dave is going to have some tough decisions because his kennel is genetically close. The team was vet checked at Dawson, and Dave dropped a dog because he didn’t think it was carrying enough fat to be protected from the cold, so he was paying attention.

I used to hate the first snow of the winter when I was in law enforcement, because it would start with freezing rain and then snow, so I would be taking accident reports for the entire shift, and you couldn’t get a wrecker to clear the road, so the plows could work.

It really does look like it’s going to be mostly snow which is, as you say, a very good thing. In deep snow (looks like we could get upwards of 14 inches now reporting), it’s not that hard to get around in a four wheel drive. When we get ice, I can’t get out. The hill outside my property is too steep. We’ve had several people go down that road in the past, go right through the stop sign, cross the intersecting road and end up in the field. Sitting nicely upright though.

Only about an inch so far.

It is really bad because we lost another dog, Bashful. It was one of Dave Dalton’s Seven Dwarves, and he raised them from puppies, so I’m not surprised he scratched – his heart was no longer in it.

What amazes me is that 4 of the 5 rookies are still racing.

Sorry about the Gulf powering this mess. I hope you get snow and not the freezing rain, if you are going get another blast of winter, because the freezing rain is the absolute pits. All you can do is hope for warm weather. This storm is so large, if the power goes out there won’t be a lot of spare crews available to restore it.

I read your link on Aliy’s blog about the accident. I have to say I was rather impressed by all the people that helped out. There’s a special place for those handlers that wanted to cheer the dogs in and make them feel they had finished their job. Nice.

It is down to the point that every one in the race will win some money, as money is paid to the first 15 finishers.

I’m seeing this a lot when working with the public. Some few people are doing amazingly well financially, but the group falling out of the middle class just keeps growing by multiples.

Minus 30 – I can’t even imagine. We had a wind chill (not even the temp) of -10 one night, and I wouldn’t even open a door to look outside. January and February are the two hardest months for me, but I try to not wish my life away and appreciate the day as best I can. But if I were an Alaskan, come spring, I’d be outta there.