Vanishing White

The snow is slipping away, vanishing either into the ground or into the sky. Brown dots scar the once perfectly white landscape. It smells like spring, like dirt and grass and… something. It’s all dead but at the same time it’s becoming alive. There’s nothing green but it has an aroma of newborn grass. Perhaps my nose is so lacking the definition of greenery that it doesn’t recognize the stale smell of dead weeds as being not-alive. But nevertheless, I’m welcoming it. The snow is drifting away, leaving behind a mess of mud and leaves that I just can’t wait to explore.

Dirty Paws on White Knit Sweaters

Riley is gaining strength, back to her healthy self. How I love her so so much. Her sweet smile and little happy whimpers truly make my heart jump up and down with joy. Today when I walked out of the front door she came running- more so sliding- around the side of the house and up into my arms. Her dirty paws stained my white knit sweater. And her sloppy kisses left my hands wet and cold. But there’s something about her. I just have to kneel and hold her in my arms for a second. She tucks her sweet head into my chest and we sit there, curled together in a solemn happiness that only a sled dog and its dear human could know.

A First Lone Swan

The first swan flew over today. My darling was glancing out an open back window when the lone honk of the feathered white creature marked the still winter air. It flittered and fluttered its way through our still chilled air, sounding its call in the hopes of finding a familiar face. Unfortunately, he’s alone right now. He’s the first one to pass on the way north, but soon he will be visited by millions of neighbors. It’s quite extraordinary, but within a month hundreds of thousands of waterfowl will nestle in beside me in my tundra land. And the lone swan who visited me today, will feel overwhelmed with the amount of friends he lead this way.

Off With The Rope

As my darling arrived home he found me in tears. I felt so desperate, so heartbroken. And without one question, he put on his coat and told me to calm Riley as he cut the rope off. She's such a sweet dog. She never bites and listens to directions really well. She's scared of men- for good reason. But she snuggled up to me and let my darling get close enough to saw through the rope with a knife. She didn't yelp, she didn't even whimper. She kept completely still. And within a minute you saw the relief enter her eyes. She took a huge breath and layed down on the ground. And then she turned into the happy sled dog I had known her has. She began to eat and jump and play and smile. I'm terrified if she goes home she'll be put in the same situation. But I bought her a collar and put it on her, hoping that they will choose to use it instead of a brutally tight tough peice of string. Nevertheless, my heart is at ease. She's happily prancing in my backyard right now. And her mum (me) is so grateful... so so grateful that fate stepped in in time for me to spare her a surely brutally slow suffocating death.

The Demon Rope

I am in tears as I write this entry. Riley broke free today. The first place she ran was my front door. She's so starved. Her owners tied the rope around her neck so tightly she wouldn't be able to howl at night. And because of this she cannot eat. I tried so hard to get it off. But she kept crying out, it hurts her every time I touch it. And my heart is so broken right now. I haven't cried in so long, but there's nothing I can do and it hurts me. I'm trying to feed her, but she's so afraid. She's bruised and beaten. She curls up to me, but when I get up she fears something bad is going to happen and runs off. She eats a little, then chokes and tries very hard to hold the food down. Tears are streaming down my face. She hasn't been fed, or petted, or anything. And she's so hurt... she can't do anything right now. And my heart is so broken. So so broken. I can't watch my sleddog be treated like this, but there's nothing I can do. No one cares but me. And I'm so powerless. When she cries I cry too. And that damn rope hurts her so bad. It's tied so tight blood is staining the fur on her neck. And yet when I try to get it off, nothing works. And I am so scared, so desperate. My some act of fate I wish that rope would just break free. I can't watch her like this. How could anyone treat a dog like this? How could they think that's okay? She's so thin... so sad. And my entire world is crashing down.