The Iditarod is a good halfway over now - it's been 7 days since the restart
at Wasilla. As of the Saturday news, Doug Swingley was meeting the predictions
by those who favored him to win. Swingly has arrived in and departed from
Kaltag in the early afternoon with 350 miles to go, before he gets to Nome -
but right behind him is Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof, and the perennial champions -
- hot on his heels are 6 other teams including those of Rick Swenson, Martin Buser,
and Jeff King, all former winners, with excellent teams. There's absolutely
no rest for the leader.
The next 2 weeks of this series will be uplinked from Holland where I will be
visiting family and friends. The bags are packed- and repacked- my fellow
traveller for this long journey will be arriving here in my home tomorow
night - and we'll depart early Tuesday morning. Leny goes to her family,
but first we hope to "do" some things in Amsterdam as we shake off the
jetlag - I'm the proverbial tourist, and she's returning for a refreshing
family-hug in Limburg and Breda. My family is in Hilversum and Naarden -
and of course Tante Leo who last saw me in 1937, in Soest, is high on my list
of to-dos. As are friends who live in Amersfoort. Sheila will join me by
Thursday morning, and then we all head for the kinfolk. Aah, if I had more
time -- but this is the most we could get for now.
For there is also another move in my future.
- an escape from the ice which has been especially heavy this year. This
street "skatingrink" is 5 inches thick! And we've started on that move too -
packing up little things. The movers will do the most part for us. But new
homes have to be found for most of the plants - not a problem. And there's a a
small "toss" pile, and most everything else is a "keep" - for the new home is
larger.
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deebrrs@mailcity.com