Alex’s Iditarod Adventure

So, the beard is growing, it can only mean one thing – Winter is here (despite what I see every morning as I look out the windows of Sylmar). But the nights still arrive early, and I can feel the tug of the North.

After being bitten by the bug last winter in Sweden when we went dog sledding, I can’t get it out of my head. There’s really nothing like those enchanted days Tiff and I spent north of the Arctic Circle, riding with a team of eager dogs across a frozen land. It’s that time of year again, and even though we’re living in the eternal sunshine of Southern CA, I know that the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing Winter. Most importantly, Alaska, where in a month’s time, the famed Iditarod dog sled race will begin.

Events have been cascading in a seemingly predetermined way since New Years when I read Call of the Wild. Actually, maybe the seeds were planted way back when I first read that story as a kid, along with countless other seeds sown for countless other dreams that have lead me to where I am now. They were germinated big time last year in Sweden, and watered again when I read Winterdance (see this blog, August ’05). Then there was the article about the Iditarod Tiff showed me last week, the books about Alaska, a comment here, an idea there. Now here’s another article that Tiff has found (dangerous girl!) This time it’s in Bark magazine (Yep, Bark, as in “Dog is my co-pilot”) about dog sledding in Alaska, called, of course, Call of the Wild. It’s a small article, but the photos are evocative and my heart starts racing. I want to be out there. I want to go.

So, one thing leads to another. Seeds are sown and now I’m growing a beard and looking up flights on Expedia.