"Simplify, Simplify, Simplify"

It was difficult, but somehow I dragged Sophie away from Tasha Canine's three week old pups at Tasha and Ed's and headed home today. Tasha connected me to Sam and Jill Caldwell who connected us with our newest dogs, Brie and Coneaut (sp?), two beautiful female gee/haw leaders.

Happy Birthday to me. I am 35. Things I've learned on this birthday:

1. I don't need to have "stuff" to be happy. This weekend I slept in vehicles, on the ground, in bunks and rest stops, and have been dirty. I stripped myself of make-up and frills -- all the stuff that a professional life seems to dictate -- and felt happy and home. I will be sad to return to work and the pressures of what that means.

2. I love to be awakened by the sound of howling huskies. I love their prancing, jumping, running, trotting, talking, howling, woo-wooing ways. I need to move. I want acres and acres of land. I'd live in a box if I could have acres of land and be awakened by howling huskies instead of an alarm clock.

3. There are still really good people in the world. Jan and Bob Shaw opened their doors to me and Sophie without ever having met us. And they want us to come stay at their place while they go on vacation this coming summer to take care of their dogs and watch their place while they are gone. They are the best people: kind-hearted, funny. soft spoken. I love them, and Tasha and Ed, and all the friends I made at their "so mush fun" weekend.

4. Mushers are a strange lot. They are overall good and generous people, but, as one person put it this weekend, "they are great people, but they all have their quirks." Being around 30 mushers this weekend was enlightening. I mostly listened, and I learned a lot. And I feel grateful for the opportunities, and so excited for this coming winter.

5. Thoreau: "Simplify, simplify, simplify"