Big News

Mom, Dad, Jack and Lily just got back from the hospital. Lily, who doesn’t really understand the extent of the situation, ran up to me saying “Davie’s hurt, Davie’s hurt. But Mommy and Daddy said he’s going to be okay.” I licked her face and she laughed- which is one of my favorite sounds in the whole world, next to the tinkling of food in my bowl. After Lily pet me for a little while, I went into the kitchen to greet my parents. Walking in, my tail was wagging furiously, as I hadn’t seen them for almost 5 hours, but as soon as I entered I felt an ominous presence and immediately my tail went down. I caught the end of Mom saying, “I can’t believe he survived. The car was completely unrecognizable.” Dad agreed and said he had to find a replacement dog for Sadie- that it was going to be difficult as most sled dogs in the area are already on a team, and the race starts in less than a month. Finally having noticed me, Dad had an “epiphany.” “You!” he exclaimed, looking in my direction. “Hon, what do you think about Lola taking Sadie’s place?” She looked at him as if he were crazy: “Are you kidding,” she said, “Lola is a retriever, not a husky!” Still, Dad thought it was a great idea. Who’d ever heard of a Golden Retriever in the Iditarod? Because I’m a dog I guess I don’t really know the implications of what my being in the race would be. I’m as athletic and intelligent as any husky I’ve ever met, so I don’t see the problem. I’m going to prove Mom wrong, and I’ll do it for Dave. Running 1,049 miles in the freezing cold and unpredictable terrain of the Alaskan countryside can’t be that difficult. Can it?

Loyally,
Lola