The Dog Days (are just starting)

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Hello there! I am the newest addition to the “new additions” to Tulita. I’ve also been hired to work with the Park, and highlights of my job so far include procuring a meaty bear head from a freezer in Normal Wells, that I will eventually have to boil down to a skull and sanitize for use in educational programming. I arrived in town only 2 short weeks ago, and Faye and Maciek kindly set me up with a blog username and told me I could write whatever I wanted on here as long as I don’t include any town gossip –of which there is a remarkable amount having only been here two weeks. But don’t ask me about it. At least not on the blog 😉

My first night in town, I was invited over to Faye and Maciek’s house for dinner where they promptly had me gut a grouse in their driveway –I was under the impression this was standard Tulita initiation, but turns out I was just lucky.  Since then I’ve also had the pleasure of purchasing 50% off bananas at the Northern (I’m sure they were yellow at some point), staying up regularly until 1 am (when it actually gets dark), and throwing knives into a plywood wall (for fun). I’ve also been busy befriending the town’s eclectic array of dogs.

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Ali –The goodest of girls, the best fetcher of sticks, she just wants to be your pal. Sweet, playful, and bit of a pushover. A classic Southerner.

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Butterball –A big buttery ball of fluff. Can’t argue with that.

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Stella –The local celebrity athlete, a dark horse (dog) on the skijoring circuit. She barrels through the snow, a shadow in the night.

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Teacup –Born in the first light of spring, 2018. Teacup is a wizened soul with a heart of gold, trapped in the flimsy, flailing body of a mouse-like puppy. She also goes Trevor or Tyson, depending on who you ask. Her past is a mystery, but her size tells a big story. Adorbs.

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Sissy –She may be tied up, in the physical world, but her philosophies and dreams are untethered. She has a bad habit of following, but with some more experience and mentorship, she will become a leader of her people.

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Dirt-Patch Dog –This dog just lays in a patch of dirt all day. Might be a German shepherd?

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Dog-House Dog 1 & 2 –One is always napping. And they both sit on their dog houses. Never in them.

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Porch-Railing Dog –This dog is a step above, the cream of the crop, the wheat from the chaff, she sees life from the eyes of God (if God lived on a railing). Most other dogs in town are stuck in the mud, but her paws are clean –of sin. Note the railing on the left.

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Lil’ Pointy Ears –Lil’ Yaps-A-Whole-Lot-And-Needs-An-Attitude-Check. But he’s also the youth of today. And those voices need to be heard.

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Shepherd –Katelyn’s neighbour. She doesn’t typically go for the macho type – he’s barking up the wrong tree 😉

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Charlie –The epitome of strength, love, and fluff. The gracious mother of four beautiful children. She protects, teaches, and tenderly licks her legacies. An inspiration to us all.

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Walter –His jowls and saggy eyes practically drag on the ground. If you want a dog with a short leg and a looooong droop, he’s your guy.

So far so good! Tulita’s got some top notch dogs, and I can’t wait to meet even more. This Dog Blog was co-authored by Emma.

Spring Carnival Games

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Emma hosting the adult games at Spring Carnival

Spring Carnival included a number of adult games – here’s a summary of some of the highlights.

Skeet Shooting

We got to shoot some clay pigeons over the Mackenzie River, which was very fun. I placed second in the women’s competition.

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Maciek
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Emma, mid-shot… you can see the smoke and the tracer if you look closely

Egg Toss

A classic.

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On your marks

Here are some slow-motion egg catches:

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Pudding Feeding Competition

Kind of like a pudding eating competition, except you have to feed the pudding to your partner. Also you’re both blindfolded. And they spin you around before the competition begins.

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Other Games…

There were a number of other games, such as a three-legged race and racing to thread a needle, as well as an eclectic assortment of other activities.

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The one where you spin a coin and then your partner has to stop the coin with their finger while keeping it vertical. It’s surprisingly challenging.
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The one where you bounce a pencil on its eraser and it has to bounce into the cup. I did not manage to make any pencils go into the cup.
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The one where you twerk with a box full of ping-pong balls attached to your rear and try to get all the balls out the fastest. Evan placed 3rd in the twerking competition.
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Probably the one where you flip pencils from the back of your hand and catch them but also it’s a relay race.
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Yay, games!

Firefighting Drills

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Our firefighting drills have started to include putting out actual fires.

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Using the big hose
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Using the monitor on the top of the fire truck, which shoots a lot of water, but isn’t all that specific about direction…
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Putting out any remaining fire
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Combing through the wreckage