All of us dogs loaded into the dog truck and we headed to the Veterinarian’s Clinic for our annual visit. Handler and Musher told us that if we were all very good dogs – listened to and followed directions while at the vet – we’d get a special surprise on the way home. We all agreed we’d do our best and went down the road looking forward to our surprise. We discussed what it might be. Maybe we’d stop by the bank where they often give out treats or maybe we’d stop by the Dairy Queen and get a couple of cones to share between us. We never expected what our surprise turned out to be but I’m sure glad I happened to have my camera.

When we left the clinic, musher and handler said we’d take a drive around town to view some animals. We hear that humans drive around town to look at the holiday decorations as a special event so animal viewing would be a special event for us. We see animals in the dog yard and out on the trail while we run. Some animals like deer, moose and buffalo are bigger than we are. Others like coyotes and wolves are about the same size as we are. More often the animals we see are smaller than we are like mice, gophers, squirrels, rabbits and cats. We were not prepared for the animals we’d see. We headed out of the parking lot with our noses and eyes glued to the windows of our individual cubbies.

First we drove by a high school. Perched on the top of the roof was an eagle – a giant bigger than life eagle with its wings raised looking like it was ready for flight. Standing more than eight feet tall and weighing several hundred pounds, they call this eagle Old Abe. During the Civil War an infantry group from Wisconsin had a real live eagle, Old Abe, as their mascot. You might like to do some research and find out more about the legendary Old Abe.

Next we stopped at a little neighborhood car fix place. Standing near the former filling station was a handsome bigger than life fellow wearing a chef’s hat holding a ginormous doughnut. The baker was taller than the building and the doughnut was more than ten hungry sled dogs could eat in a month. The mechanic at the garage found the statue through the want adds. The bedraggled looking baker was standing 14 feet tall in an overgrown field. It was love at first site for the mechanic – he had to have the doughnut man. He paid $100 for the 1,200 pound figurine, hauled him to the fix-it-garage and went to work restoring the fiberglass sculpture.

Staying with the theme of food, our next stop was at a restaurant called the BIG STEER. Guess what we saw there. Yup, a BIG STEER, actually two big steers. One was wearing a cheese hat. Either the steer was happy about great Wisconsin cheese or the steer was a devoted Packer Backer – they often wear big chunks of cheese on their heads. Watch a Packer game sometime and you’ll see what I mean. It’s reported that the steer with the cheese weighs about half a ton and stands nine feet tall.

During the summer, we see little mice in the dog yard quite often and sometimes our cat returns from a hunt carrying a treasured rodent. The next animal we stopped to view was a mouse but this one stood taller than the building it sat next to! The cool thing about this critter was its finely detailed front paws and huge ears. Normally, I think mice have whiskers but this bigger than life mouse didn’t.

A few miles north we came to another high school where a beautiful bird was perched on the roof. The bird was red and had a blunt beak perfect for cracking seeds. Can you guess what it was? If you guessed cardinal, you hit the nail on the head. The mascot bird stands at least eight feet tall. After doing some research about these bigger than life critters I found they usually have steel bones and have fiberglass skin, often weighing near to a thousand pounds so you can’t just set one on your roof without checking to make sure the roof can bear the weight. I wonder how they get it up there? Maybe by using a crane – isn’t that another big bird?

Handler and musher saved the best for last. Another high school and on the roof above the front entry stood a statue of a Karen Ramstead sled dog – a Siberian Husky. It was beautiful, it was huge, it looked strong, it looked determined, it looked powerful and we all bowed down to this great dog that reminded us of the important roll sled dogs have played in the history of Alaska. Perhaps that’s why this school chose the husky for its mascot. Word has it that this great sled dog, weighing about 1,500 pounds was given to the high school by Bolens Husky, a company that used to manufacture snow machines and lawn mowers.  When it was first acquired, the big dog was all white.  It took a huge crane to hoist it up onto the roof.  Once it was up there, it was painted.  This handsome Siberian Husky stands watch over everything that goes on at North High School.

Do you know what a metaphor is? “Bigger than Life.” Could be a metaphor for Iditarod? Try to think of bigger than life issues that mushers face in preparing for Iditarod. What’s bigger than life for the mushers along the trail? After the race, do mushers still face bigger than life challenges? How do they tackle and conquer the Last Great Race? Getting back to your community, do you have any bigger than life creatures near your home or school? What do they represent? Do you have bigger than life challenges at school? How do you tackle and conquer your bigger than life happenings?

There you have it, a story about our trip to the vet and “Bigger than Life” critter viewing field trip. It was quite an exciting day and the trip to the vet wasn’t bad either – they gave us treats.  Let PRIDE –be your guide – Personal Responsibility in Daily Effort.

Born to Run,
Sanka

SWD Bigger than Life

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All photos in this gallery are by Iditarod Trail Committee. Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the photographer.