Hi all! First, allow me to explain
my hiatus.
After working hard this winter,
Morgan and I were able to take a week off and head to Salt Lake City to be with
our friends. It was a fun week filled with concerts and movies and electrical
heating and a lot of civilization.
Once we got back,
it was time to say goodbye to Craig. Craig came here in October to work through
our busiest time, and now that spring is upon us, he’s left to explore other
things. Specifically, he’ll be exploring the entire west coast of the United States,
as he’ll be hiking 2000+ miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest
Trail. This is yet another leg on Craig’s Great Adventure, having spent two
years teaching for the Peace Corps in Ghana before coming to work here on the
ranch (you should know that Craig had never seen snow before mastering the art
of mushing).
Craig taught me more
than I’ve been able to retain since I’ve gotten here, not least of which was our
first meeting in which he showed me the intricacies of running a snow blower.
We’ll miss his uncanny knack for solving our everyday ranch puzzles, his
tendency to giggle at cat videos, his undeniable charisma whilst performing karaoke,
and of course his constant sense of humor. Happy trails Craig.
Once we’d
tearfully sent Craig on his way, it was time to host our first ever Learn to
Mush Experience. Stacie, Drew, and Caryn came out for five days along with
Stacie’s malamute, Jasmine, who was a working dog here once upon a time. We
couldn’t have asked for a better trio to be our guinea pigs. Over the course of
the week, they were involved with feeding and taking care of the dogs, one on one
training, driving the team on quads and on sleds, and even helped out around
the barn for a spell. Through it all,
they were good natured and enthusiastic, and I’d imagine all of us would be
more than happy to host them for a repeat visit.
At the same time
that Stacie, Drew, and Caryn were staying, we also had a different group of guests.
Twila and her friend Luana Reed teamed up to rescue 30 Great Pyrenees from a
farm that were at risk of being put down. Altogether we had 11 staying in our
barn for a few nights, and now that 3 have been given to homes, we have eight
left. One, a puppy, has already graduated to guardian dog status, and she’s been
learning quickly from veterans Zaire and Dolly. I picked the name Ivy for her,
since she stuck to the wall her first few days here. Now she runs up to us
every morning, tail wagging. We’re hoping for similar results from the other
Pyrs: they all came to us deathly afraid of strangers and certainly confused
with their sudden change in environment.
As an extra bonus,
Kinky had her litter of puppies while our guests were here! Ever gifted with
her timing, Kinky went into labor on Friday evening, and by late Saturday night
we had three big boys and three big girls. They’re now two days old, and as
soon as I’m done writing I’ll be helping Twila assign their names (pictures are
sure to follow). Mom is doing great, and her pups are all strong and wiggly.
So, with all that
explained, I hope you’ll forgive me for my break from blogging. Until next time!
(Which should be much sooner.)
-
Peter
No comments:
Post a Comment