'Not much, but here's another Sondy Tale, anyway.. MAY I PET 'IM? By Wilton Strickland
At lunch one day in late winter or early spring of 1978 at Sondrestrom, Greenland, somebody mentioned that some sled dog teams were down at the port, seven miles away. (Tourists from Europe would occasionally fly in and charter native Greenlander sled dog teams for two-week trips from Sondrestrom to a small village on the coast or out onto the ice cap a few miles away.) After lunch, several friends rode down to the port with me to see the dog teams.
When we arrived at the port, there were several Danish and Greenlander drivers/masters and their dog teams standing around in little groups, talking, napping or just sitting around enjoying the low, mid-day sun. As we walked up into one group of dogs and were talking to the master, some of the dogs appeared eager to interact with us, and one of my friends asked, "May I pet 'im?" The driver responded tersely, "No, they're not pets. These are working dogs." I said to the friend, "Yeah, be careful, you may draw back a bloody nub." Meanwhile another driver nearby, who had heard the exchange, said to us, "Come on over here, you may pet my dogs." As we stepped over amongst the second team of dogs, a very large shaggy, black dog with the most beautiful bright, light blue eyes I've ever seen approached and sat down in front of us and held up a huge paw. I reached down and grasped the paw as large as my fist and noticed that his leg was a little bigger than my wrist. I offered a greeting, "Good afternoon, Sir, how are you?" He moved my hand and arm up and down and looked me in the eye with those bright blue eyes with a smile as if to say, "Very well, Sir, How are you?" I asked the owner/driver, "What's his name?" "Sorte" (Danish for black), he responded. "Oh! Selvfolgelig!" (certainly), "Blackie," I exclaimed.
By the way, it's interesting to note the way sled dogs in Canada and Alaska are arranged and hitched to the sleds differently from those in Greenland. In Canada and Alaska, the dogs are arranged into columns of two abreast with each dog attached to a main trace (cable) that runs from the front dog in each column to the sled. Dogs in Greenland are each attached individually to the sled in a fan formation. The column-of-two allows them to go between trees; the lack of trees Greenland is more conducive to the fan arrangement.
Wilton
_______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
