A few days ago, during the Peninsula Winter Games, Porter had a chance to run his first sled dog race. That morning, we had stopped by Kaladi's for a pregame hot chocolate, and to meet up with his mama. I'm watching him, looking for some sign of nervousness. Porters lounged back in his chair, looking at all the people, talking about things that no adult would even think of. Normal stuff for Porter.
I guess he isn't nervous at all.
We head to the airport where the trails have been groomed for the last week. For some unknown reason, Porter is infatuated with Balto- the famous dog that led mushers to Nome with life saving serum. He decides we should make up a song about Balto. Its a short song, but cute...
Pushing through the snow in the middle of the night.
Every shadow in front of me is coming alive.
We push a lil harder hoping we might find,
the trail that Balto left behind.
We're flying through the sky, my sleds on fire.
Faster than the wind could ever dream.
Lean into the turns and hold on tight.
looking for the trail Balto left behind.
Dogs are getting tired, barely feel my feet.
Fingers feel like frozen chunks of meat.
But deep inside I'm feeling alive,
thinking I might find the trail Balto left behind.
A heavy snowfall days prior made the head guy nervous, and as we rolled into the parking lot there was nobody there. I began to wonder if it was called off and no one let us know. So we sat in Joshy's truck (a truck without a heater), waiting. Waiting for the crowds... Finally trucks full of kids, dogs and sleds pulled into the lot, and started setting up camp. Unfortunately mushing isn't the most popular sport to the youth of our time.
3 kids sign up.
Regan decides 1 mile is far enough for Porter. I really wanted him to go further, but I have come to know, you don't argue with mama. Porter gets his lil bib on over his snowsuit, and jumps on his sled. Mindy and I hook a couple dogs up and lead him to the starting line. Today, Panther and Crusher would be his only company down the trail, racing him on a loop that ends where it starts.
Porter has a large crowd. Kimmy, Valerie and Nate, their kids, Pamela and her kids, Regan and her newest beau Nick, and even Grandma Jeanie flew in from Haines. And lots of camera's.
The other 2 kids racing have a daddy each.
The funny thing about watching a sled dog race is lots of cheering on take-off, then idle chit chat, then lots of cheering on landing. There isn't a camera following the racer. No play by play.
The head guy starts his countdown. I whisper to Porter, "Lean into the turns and hold on tight". He nods in agreement.
And he's off...
Here comes the idle chit chat. Regan just can't believe our son is racing all by himself. "He's gone Anderson. Our son is gone!" I really wish I was with him, the crowd is already starting to bother me. I found Kim off to the side capturing take-off pictures, and stood with her. Everyone is smiling. Everyone looks happy. I guess it's strange to think a 5 yr old would be able to take off with his dogs alone into the woods. I just stick with Kim. She's not much of a chatterbox. It's probably why I'm comfortable around her.
8 minutes and 30 seconds later, Porter comes into sight, rolling over a small hill. Almost 9 minutes after he started, Porter hits the line, and I catch two running huskies to stop the sled. The head guy says, "He's got the only cheering section out here". That was funny to me.
I lead the dogs to the truck and Porter jumps off to meet his fans, kiss the babies, sign autographs, and pose for pictures. He's a hero, a champion, the King of the World, at least for today.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment