2/05/12 DOG SLED RACES, INDIAN HOSPITALITY, AND "THE FIRST GOING"

RACE DAY DAWN

SIX DOGS, SIXTY MILES

GOOD DOGS!

EIGHT DOGS, EIGHTY MILES

INDIAN HOSPITALITY

OOPS!

Sunday, 8:30 AM. 29 degrees F,  up from the low to mid-twenties earlier. Wind W, calm. the sky is mostly blue and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather.  It will be a bit cooler for the dogs today.  Mike at the Seagull Bay Motel says the mushers staying there had a good race, it was a little warm but still O.K. for the dogs, and the trail was very fast.
        Yesterday was, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, a great opening day for the dog sled races.  We watched the race from our usual vantage point at the juncture of Star Route and Butternut Road, just east of The Settlement, a tiny historic community of mostly Indian folks.  We got there about 10:15 AM and the racers started coming through shortly afterward.  It seemed to me they were making very good time (they race against the clock) and there were many very professional looking rigs and beautiful teams, evidence of many participants who would have been in the important Duluth Bear Grease race if it had not been canceled for lack of snow.  There was even a team that appeared to be from Alaska, perhaps on some sort of a promotional tour as I can’t imagine anyone coming the distance just to be in our little event. 
        The small crowd at this vantage point was as enthusiastic as usual, and as usual the Settlement folks put on a good campfire lunch totally free to everyone, which is in the Indian tradition of sharing, and I am sure a number of local businesses helped with donated food and drink.  The trail runs parallel to the road for a stretch, so many watched from their cars.  We heard of a few mishaps out in the woods, and one rig tipped over as it rounded a curve and crossed the road.  I imagine things got a little slick on the trail in the warm temperatures and sunshine, but it was a great day for the spectators. 
        The traditional shouts of encouragement and instruction to the dogs filled the air at the crossing; “On by,” “Hi on,” “Gee,” “Haw,” “Good dogs.” And of course, “Mush.”  We watched for about an hour.  The six dog teams run thirty miles each of the two days for a total of sixty miles, the eight dog teams run forty miles each day for a total of eighty miles. They are amazingly fast as they charge through the woods and fields.  There are some novice and children’s events which are shorter.  Tomorrow morning I will go out to the starting point on Hwy. 13 and report on the activities there.  I find it too difficult to try to be at both locations on the same day.
        Commentary: I am amazed that the President, with evidently little consideration of the potential for conflict, has in essence thrown down the gauntlet to the Catholic Church. 
        The Administration’s Health and Human Services agency has ruled that Catholic institutions such as charities, schools, hospitals, etc. must provide employee health care which includes contraceptives and abortions, both of which the church opposes on highest and ancient principle.
        As far as I can see, the only ones clamoring for this change of policy, and what will by all accounts be a primal battle, were some left-wing ideologs in the Democratic party.  Joan says he just lost the November election.  My take on this is that although many Catholics (who comprise twenty-seven percent of the electorate) may not agree with their church on every issue, they will not tolerate the President or his Administration telling the church what to do, which I think is a pretty clear violation of the First Amendment.
        President Obama may think he is The Second Coming, but he is much more likely to be The First Going.