The dog sled teams came to town for the Eagle Cap Extreme races held this weekend.
Grandma walked me nearby, though we stayed far enough away to avoid a fracas.
Lots and lots of dogs howled and barked when they saw me. So we didn’t stay long.
I was a sled dog once. The key word here is ONCE. But I cannot say that Grandma was a musher.
In my early acquaintance with Grandma, she explored what I liked and what I didn’t like. She liked to kayak on Wallowa Lake. I liked to ride up front, but when I jumped off to go meet the flock of geese in the middle of the lake, she thought other options for boating needed to be offered.
She made my own boat out of a snow sled, styrofoam tubes and baling twine. The sled was a disc that I perceived as an over-sized dog food bowl. Thinking “Food! And lots of it!” I was looking forward to our next adventure.
I was also impressed with her engineering and went along with the idea because she was so proud of her contraption. The warm sunshine and smooth waters made for a beautiful day of boating.
Then I fully grasped what the plan was.
Faster than the snap of a camera, I was out of there!
We were in a shallow canal to test this idea, so a short swim brought me to shore.
I was never meant to be a sailor. Commanding a large fleet would work, however. Even Grandma’s friend Uncle Mike agrees. He was in the Navy. Ever since he heard this story, he’s been calling me “Commodore Pete.”
That’s the extent of my dog sled history. Welcome and congratulations to the ECX race teams and winners!
Ahoy, Matey! Good job.