More photos of the Kennel

On the left is a photo of the puppies out on their run. There is beautiful wilderness all around the kennel. The photo on the right is the long distance team (16 dogs) all harnessed up and ready to go out for a run. The dogs are still running in front of 4 wheelers until we have enough snow to run the sleds. This photo was taken before a 13 hour run we did a few days ago. It was 30 below, and I don't think I've ever been that cold in my life. We got back at around 2:30 am, after quite a wild ride. We pulled a sled behind the 4 wheeler so Megan and I could practice controlling the sled. While you can stop the dogs easily with a 4 wheeler, once we start using sleds there is much less control. We went about 5 hours out on the run before letting the dogs eat and rest for 2 hours. Then we came back. The last Photo is another attempt at a family portrait with the dogs that live with us in our little cabin.

Windy Creek Kennel: Fox, Alaska

I’ve been in Alaska one week today, and I’ve already been lucky enough to experience 30 below weather. Megan picked me up from the airport last week, and we’ve been working away ever since. Megan has already been here for 6 weeks, so she has been showing me the day-to-day routine and life here at Windy Creek Kennel. We’re about 30 min outside of Fairbanks.

Above is a picture of the dog yard, the main house, and our cabin (on the right). The cabin has a main floor with a small kitchen, wood stove (we have all wood heat), a table, and a couch (usually taken by 2 to 3 dogs). We have 5 dogs that live with us. most of them retired race dogs. There is a loft where we sleep. There is no running water, so we use an outhouse and the snow as a bathroom. There is a refrigerator, and a stove for cooking!

This picture shows the rest of the dog yard. The female dogs are kept in a separate yard with a fence around them. There are two litters of puppies who have their own fenced in areas. There is a litter of 7 that is 6 months old, and a litter of 5 that are 4 months old. These puppies don’t pull yet, so we just take them on walks around the area.

This is what happened when we tried to take a family portrait……we are missing two dogs in and all the dogs were very confused.

Aren't you Afraid?

Aren’t you afraid? It’s a question most all of my friends, family and new acquaintances ask when they find out I’m living in Arivaca. They ask if I’m afraid to be alone, or of migrants or drug traffickers. They ask if I’m afraid of snakes, or of being far from a city and the luxuries of city life, or of not having a TV.

No I’m not afraid of being alone in rural Arizona in the desert. Nor of migrants or drug traffickers. I don’t mind snakes or being far from the city or not having a TV.

But yes, I’m afraid.

For our country, my people, and all those who try to come here. I’m afraid for them to feel the fear I experience driving with more border patrol cars than any other vehicles on the road some evenings. Afraid for a country whose government workers (border patrol) won’t let me give food and water to migrants they are apprehending or holding on buses, but instead put their hands on their guns when I approach. So yes, to answer the question, I am afraid. Not of being alone, but rather of being all to well “protected”.

Rocky and The Grasshoppers

I had only ever seen Arivaca from a car or on foot, until Rocky came along. My neighbors Danny and Sunny let me ride their horse Rocky. Sunny taught me how to ride in their pastures, and by the end of my time in Arivaca Sunny and I went on a couple longer rides through the desert. For all the Minnesotans, I think running through sandy washes in the desert on horseback is a bit like skinny dipping in july in the boundary waters. Calming and relaxing, but also refreshing and exhilarating.

This is a picture of a sunflower with the Baboquivari peak in the background. Baboquivari is the sacred mountain of the Tohono O’odham. This is before the time of the grasshoppers. They swept in and destroyed just like was described in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. There was no saving anything that had leaves. They even made an effort at the Jade and Aloe Vera plants with their thick leaves. -- Berit