The days go by — sometimes fast, sometimes slow. The leaves have all but disappeared off the trees in our dog lot and we are slowly preparing for winter. We spend long hours outside, splitting and cutting wood. It is a slow, monotonous task punctuated by the good friends and family who come to join us. The stack of wood ready to burn is now growing ever bigger. At night, we burn it and the house gets so hot you need to wear shorts; it isn’t even this warm in the summer. There is strange paradox of seasons for us mushers. Summer is our hibernation where we spend every waking moment at work, fall the long, bleary eyed wake up period where we prepare ourselves and then winter: fast-paced, day by day, doing what we love.
We have had family to visit too: Travis’ aunt Janell and his uncle Dwayne, who have helped us prepare for our busy season of racing. We repainted our kitchen red (see below)and have begun organizing our basement. We can’t do everything and at some point that part of the house became a collection spot for any belonging not having an official home. In our house, that means just about everything. The worst part is you can never seem to find what you need in all the chaos. But…slowly, we are improving.
My office is coming along slowly but surely and I enjoy looking out the window into the dog lot. Today, the boys are working out in it. We’ve ordered gravel and a bob cat. The dog lot is a never ending project. I think we are hoping that with enough dirt we won’t ever flood again. Travis and I both cringe when we see more than 3 days of rain in a row which is, unfortunately, all too common in Seward.
Mostly, the weather has been good and we have been fortunate to enjoy such a lovely fall.