There are no ethics in Christmas cards

Well now. All I have to say is: it ain't easy being cheesy (or sleazy). You will all see what I mean when you get our Christmas cards. They're cute. Ok? CUTE! AND FESTIVE!
Who am I kidding? Fromage. Meh. And if you don't get a Christmas card from us, you know why.
Anyway, I ran the huskies today and took out a 14-dog string. I only got run over once. It's a Christmas miracle. Fourteen dogs can muster up a lot of power. When I stop the team, which is not often when there are 14 dogs on the line, I set both the front and rear brakes, turn the engine off and make sure it's in first gear. When I began training the yearlings, they didn't know how to work as a team but they've learned and also caught on to the fact that when they do work together, they can pull the 500-pound ATV with brakes set. That's when I a) run beside the thing and hop on (a la Dukes of Hazzard) or b) throw myself in front of the four-wheeler and get run over which only slightly slows the team down. So all went well today. It also went well on Saturday when Sam came with me. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of Sam on the back of the ATV. He was a big help and I appreciate it. Are you happy, now?
What else? Oh yeah, I got a photo assignment for the Chicago Tribune which will send me to Barrow, Alaska, on Sunday. Barrow is the northern-most village and is very cold and very dark this time of year. I will fly in for the day to photograph the subject and the town and then fly home that night. Details still have to be worked out but I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. What a cool assignment. I hope it all works out. I had an impromptu meeting (ok, we went for a beer) with the staff photog from the Associated Press last week and whad’ya know? He called today with this assignment for the Tribune. And the best part is, the subject is a dog musher!
So, anyway, I'll keep you posted. I'll be spending Friday and Saturday out at Windy Creek Kennel to run the dogs some longer distances and also to keep Gwen company. Ken and their handler will be at the Sheep Mountain 150. Ken won it last year and is hoping for another good race. Gwen was supposed to compete but has come down with a mysterious illness that has left her incapacitated. All her joints are swollen and she's in quite a bit of pain. It came on suddenly and so far has doctors baffled. So, I'll get some movies and some junk food and hunker down with her for a couple days. I'll bring my dogs with me.
Decorated the tree yesterday. We don't have much in the way of tree bling so I found some random things around the house to adorn the Charlie Brown branches. Sam even got a picture of me topping the spruce with a flying Santa on a weathervane ($0.99 at Value Village). I realize I'm telling you about photos and not actually showing any and yeah, there's a reason for that. Maybe tomorrow.
We're planning a Christmas Eve (housewarming, green card) party/bonfire here. Pass it on. (Purple monkey dishwasher)
Peace.