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From the Editor: A Virtual Fan Hitch Inuit Sled Dogs Achieve Distinguished Visibility Sledge Dog Memorial Fund Update New Resource of Polar Exploration Images In Passing: Remembering Kevin Walton Book Review: Huskies/My Friends, the Huskies Evolutionary Changes in Domesticated Dogs: The Broken Covenant of the Wild, Part 2 Behavior Notebook: Comparative Behavior Studies in The Netherlands In the News Canadian Animal Assistance Team's 2009 Northern Clinics The Chinook Project's Early Start on Veterinary Clinics IMHO: Why Inuit Dogs? Navigating This
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From the
Editor.... "Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile
things,
but just look what they can do when they stick together."
Vista M.
Kelly, author
A Virtual Fan Hitch
I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret. As editor of The Fan Hitch, I am without doubt the most frequent and flagrant offender of the submission deadline I ask of others. (Dear "Others", please don't take this as an example to follow!) I could say that my editorials are always "arriving" late because I am sooooo busy with the many other aspects of putting together our journal. Things do get rather frantic around here as the month of publication begins and relentlessly marches toward its last day. But I really can't claim that as a valid excuse. I'm one of those people who tends to find motivation when I'm face-to-face with a deadline. However playing chicken with the last day of the publishing month just to mount a little pressure on myself so I can polish off an editorial isn't much of an excuse for late completion. Especially when it comes to putting editorial thoughts on "paper", I often suffer from brainfreeze. I can honestly tell you that the reason the editorial is the last to be readied for the publication looming large is because I almost always need some inspiration. While pacing around the house, heading to the loo, staring at my plants in the greenhouse or taking my morning shower, I occasionally might conjure up a theme. But what seems to work best for me is reviewing the subject matter assembled for the issue of The Fan Hitch I'm working on. An idea for the editorial often pops at an out of the blue, "a-HA moment", sometime after having read and re-read, as part of my editorial duties, the collection of works that contributors have submitted. Like awe-inspiring polar scenery, I find articles for The Fan Hitch that kind of inspiration. People from all over the world, with all kinds of backgrounds and skills, and an equal diversity of motivation have assembled here, harnessed up in a virtual fan hitch, to pull (albeit at slightly different angles) in the same general direction. The range of contents in this edition, for example, reaffirms my longstanding belief that that anyone and everyone who admires the Inuit Sled Dog has the ability, if they so desire, to contribute to its better understanding, whether those efforts took place in the distant or near past, or are currently in progress or represent future plans. In this regard, the June issue of The Fan Hitch is all over the map and the time-space continuum. I hope you enjoy reading and perhaps find something that might inspire you to join us on that virtual fan hitch. Wishing you smooth ice and narrow leads, Sue |