Table of Contents* Why We Got into Inuit Dogs * Know the Dog, the Land and its People * Confessions of a Malamute Breeder * Giving Credit Where it is Due * Poem: Lost and Found * IMHO: El Nino, et al. Navigating This
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Lost and Found
by Janice Dougherty Just temporarily disoriented, Maybe a little turned around - I searched the sky for the sun, I backtracked our prints on the ground. But the clouds, they kept their secrets, Only solid gray front presented With a slow but ominous dimming - Threat of snow I easily scented. The tracks, they told me nothing, Adding panic to my confusion: We had been here twice already, Foot prints radiating in great profusion. "I think it's time to go HOME now!" (I suggested to the team) Trying hard to sound confident, "Let's go HOME!" (before I scream). Old dog arced her nose high in the air, Then focused on one narrow trail. The years had dimmed her eyes and strength, Yet still you could not call her frail. That compass in her forehead Had never failed me yet, And as the others firmly agreed, I knew I had a safe bet. "Okay, let's go!" I nodded assent: I had only to say it once As they plunged headlong through the trees, Whipping 'round turns, hidden bumps. This was fresh trail, untouched so far, And I doubted them just for a second, But the resolve of their stride and purposefulness Was a force with which to reckon. Soon there appeared a great clearing ahead, And at the far side of that meadow Was our transportation home, waiting, And a smile of relief - wave hello! What laser beam, what sonar sense, What gyroscope, what compass, what odor, What satellite dish, what magnetic field Guides them from one place to another? Anachronisms, out of time, Modern day misfits it seems The only thing left to trust in Is those primitive pleistocene genes! Reprinted with permission of the author. |