Playing…
… and relaxing!
Alaskan Huskies
Noggin, Chloe, Romano, Jigs and I witnessed a long and lovely sunrise this morning driving east towards Dayton, Ohio.
For the second year in a row, we presented our Iditarod talk to a 6-week “Iditarod Class”organized by our good friends, “Marty and Kenny,” at the beautiful University of Dayton.
We enjoyed visiting with everyone, and look forward to seeing you all next year! Both Noggin and I especially loved talking with Chuck Ritter — Professor Emeritus, University of Dayton Geology Department — who gave me a wonderful pep talk supporting my current studies aimed towards a geology degree. I could have chatted with him for hours. Thanks, Chuck!
All that love can be exhausting…
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… at Northside Middle School in Columbus, Indiana!
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… keeps the doctor away.
Noggin taking a stretch break during an Iditarod Skype session with Arongen Elementary in Clifton Park, NY.
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Yesterday before our Iditarod talk at the Pendleton Community Library in Pendleton, Indiana, we discovered this cavedog graffiti on the concrete trestle under the CSX railway. I’m opposed to all types of graffiti and destruction of property, yet these simple figures caught my attention, prompting me to pause and admire, and even smile. I’m sure it had something to do with the fact that four dogs — Jigs, Chloe, Romano, and Noggin — were leading us down the gorgeous paths of the Falls Park Trails. Or maybe it was the simplicity of the modern-day pictograph — woman and her dog — and what it represents, what it feels like to be in such a relationship. To all of you who have shared a profound bond with an animal, I’m sure you “get it”… so I’ll just let the image speak for itself.
Karen, Jigs, and Noggin
Even though it was a perfect autumn day in Indiana and there were dozens of football games on the tube, we had an awesome turn-out at the Pendleton Library. I really enjoyed visiting with everyone. Our always-delightful-host, Kristen Case, let us take home a sheet of her famous Romano Stickers.
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Thank you, Nicole, for sending these great photos of our Iditarod Skype session last week. It’s so fun to see what it looks like from the classroom’s perspective on the other side of Skype. The students at the Boyle Road Elementary School in Port Jefferson Station, New York were well-prepared to visit with Alaskan Huskies, Noggin and Romano, and their musher (me); the entire class donned their favorite winter hats and mittens/gloves for the occasion. What fun!
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Noggin and Romano “at work” this morning Skyping with librarians in New Paltz, New York.
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Karen, Romano, Chloe, and Jigs welcome Noggin to our String of Dogs!
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Romano says, “Don’t forget your reading glasses!”
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Tyler Short (L), Karen Land, Steve Brinkworth, and Romano
Laura McCracken, a devoted Iditarod teacher from Northside Middle School, Columbus, IN, writes:
Tyler Short was a Trailblazer last year when he was in seventh grade. He was captivated with the Iditarod and with meeting you and Romano, seeing an actual Iditarod sled and all the gear. Each of his classmates wrote a letter to an Iditarod musher using an address provided via the Iditarod education website. However, Tyler took his letter writing to the next level. He wrote one very good letter and we photocopied it. Then he painstakingly addressed each envelope by hand. He sent a letter to every single musher who provided an address. This came out to be about 60 letters.
During the summertime, he enjoyed checking the mail because he received replies throughout the summer. Seventeen mushers wrote him back. Dallas Seavey sent his Iditarod identification pass, some brochures, and a very kind letter. Tyler also received lots of dog booties and photographs. Pete Kaiser sent a two-page handwritten letter and some booties.
Tyler explains: “I was having a great time learning about the Iditarod and when Mrs. McCracken said we were going to write letter, I got super excited. I was excited because I was actually about to write to a musher! Someone who had actually gone through the Iditarod and knows what really goes on! Then I had the idea of writing a letter and sending it to all the mushers. I talked to Mrs. McCracken and she said that they could pay for the stamps and that’s when the determination kicked in. I actually had a letter done in 20 minutes and sent that exact letter to every musher. It took forever to fill out all the envelopes and sign all the letters.”
String of Dogs 