Mickey’s Musings – Final 2012 Edition

The SP Kennel ‘Family’ members are dedicated to the the pure adventure of an Alaskan lifestyle. It’s amazing to see folks venture to the far north for ‘a few months’ or ‘one racing season’ or ‘just a year’. They get drawn into the arctic rhythm and Alaska becomes home! It’s that sense of adventure calling us to Alaska that undoubtedly encourages us to explore far afield. Example: This summer of 2012 has become SP’s Season of International Adventure.

To those of you living ‘outside’ (Alaska jargon for ‘not in Alaska’), it probably seems that life in rural Alaska, in a self built home, at the end of a two-track, caring for more than 50 canine athletes and anticipating -50 degrees Farenheit in a few months, is pretty exotic and adventuresome. Well, at least it’s extreme!

But our ‘family’ pushed the boundaries this year. Ryne spent the beginning of her summer in Ecuador, visiting her brother and volunteering at a local non-profit. She is now back in Two Rivers, building her own kennel and attending college. As you know Wes accepted a job in Afghanistan helping to keep community development projects on budget. He’ll be there for a year. Last Thursday, Aliy and Allen hopped a flight to Norway! Yup, Norway. There they are featured speakers at an annual symposium in Hakadal, near Oslo, that draws hundreds of mushers from Scandanavian countries. Then on Saturday morning, we put Wendy on a flight to Bangladesh. As an international Red Cross/Red Crescent professional, she will be part of a team administering emergency aide to populations effected by severe flooding. She and Wes plan to meet in Australia in November. She promises to be back in Alaska for the first race of the season in mid December.

This sounds like pure fiction, but it’s all true!

To top it off Doug and I (Aliy’s parents) are closing up our cottage in the woods, just down the two-track from SP Kennel. On Saturday we fly back to our winter digs in Florida. Southern Florida is exotic and international in its own unique way. And it is a long, long way from our summer place in Two Rivers, Alaska.

So what do all these international adventurers have in common? A special home in Two Rivers, AK named SP Kennel.

• Quito, Ecuador to Two Rivers, AK —  5617 miles
• Kandahar, Afganistan to Two Rivers, AK —  5577 miles
• Oslo, Norway to Two Rivers, AK —  3787 miles
• Dhaka, Bangaladesh to Two Rivers, AK —  5626 miles
• Brisbane, Australia to Two Rivers, AK —  7095 miles
• Miami, Florida to Two Rivers, AK —  4821 miles

The nucleus of our SP Family, Aliy and Allen

Mickey’s Musings is signing off for 2012. You’ll hear more from me next year.