Just Another Day at the Office

I was recently filling out an application for a credit card, working my way through the lines and lines of personal information when I came to a question that stopped me in my tracks. Employment status. My options were employed, homemaker, permanently disabled, retired, self-employed, student, and unemployed. At first the question seemed rather self-explanatory until I realized I could technically fit into a number of those classifications. Employed? Well, yes I get paid under the table, and if you count experiences as payment then I’m making a seven-figure salary. Homemaker? Sure, I’ve been baking up a storm. I’d say cookies are my specialty and fun fact: sweet potato casserole should really be called yam casserole (although it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it). Self-employed? In a sense, I am my own business and others pay me directly for my services. Student? Technically, yes. I’m currently taking a leave of absence, and no, it is not just a euphemism for drop out. Unemployed? In the government’s eyes, oh yes. So really, the only two options I don’t fit are retired and permanently disabled, but some might argue I fit into the latter category. After assessing and reassessing my options, I decided on ‘employed’. I have a job, I get paid for my job, and plus I’m assuming credit card companies would like to see that I have some form of income. Which got me to thinking, this is a job.

Each day, my first task is to feed the dogs and clean the kennel. It’s still dark at eight in the morning, so for some dogs, I’m their wake-up alarm. Just like people some dogs are morning dogs while others would prefer to hit the snooze button a few times. For example, Happy reminds me a bit of my dad in the morning as she comes enthusiastically bounding out of her house the second I walk close. If she could talk, I swear she’d be yelling “Goooood mornin’!” in the same cheerful voice only my dad can have at 5:00 am. Others, like 3-year-old Honda, are more like teenagers and prefer to stay sleeping in their houses until I have breakfast ready and in their bowl. The great part about dogs, however, is that regardless if they’re morning dogs or not, they all wake up in a good mood.
After I finish feeding and cleaning (i.e. scooping poop), I’ll typically meet with Aliy and Allen to go over the day’s game plan. Normally, the bulk of the day is spent running dogs. I wouldn’t say we’re ‘mushing’ just yet since we’re still on four-wheelers, and really no one says, “We went mushing today.” Instead one would say, “We ran dogs today.” So what exactly is running dogs. Well, the little video I made provides a little insight, but I’ll try to elaborate. Instead of using poetic and flowery words to describe the amazingness of running dogs, I’ll appeal to the car lovers out there:
Running dogs is like trying to drive a 16-dogpower, muscled out Porsche 4x4. And the car is as excited to go as you are. Imagine- you’re the test driver from Porsche’s newest line, and you’re cruising along endless backroads with the windows rolled down and the top off, basking in the balmy 20 degrees (this is uncharacteristically warm for Two Rivers). There are no speed limits, although you prefer to cruise around 9 mph. And, to top it all off, you’ve got 16 of the happiest dogs around to keep you company. Occasionally, you might experience a loss of breaking power when the dogs decide that they’ve rested long enough, or you’ll have to manually steer if the leaders believe they know best. But overall, this is one drive you hope never ends. Well, at least until your fingers and toes start to freeze and then you hope for sleds.
When not running dogs, we’re preparing for the season and doing chores around the kennel. Recently, Allen signed up for the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest, and Aliy and I signed up for the Quest 300. Aliy and Allen are also racing in the Sheep Mountain 150, Copper Basin, Hamburger Run, Tustumena (Aliy), and Iditarod. In addition to the Quest 300, I’m hoping to race the Taiga 300. This means that along with running the dogs daily, this winter I’ll get to travel all over Alaska and the Yukon Territories handling and racing.
So while I might not have health benefits or a retirement plan at my job, at the end of the day I still smile and think, Ah yes, just another day in the office.