Cool Critters

Last Sunday marked the end of the Copper Dog 150. That's an annual pro-class sled dog race held over 3 days and almost 150 miles - beginning and ending in Calumet. After church on Sunday, we checked out the action as some of the teams made their way back to the finish line at the corner of 5th Street and Scott Street.

There were more folks on our side of 5th Street on Sunday, and there were spectators all the way down the street. The race start on Friday evening is packed with people several layers deep.

Although I don't have a photo of the winning team, this is the first time in the 8-year history of the race that it was won by a Canadian - and the first time it was won by a female! It just happened that 2 of the teams we watched cross the finish line on Sunday also had female mushers.

The Copper Dog is a fantastic event that requires hundreds of volunteers and really excites all the local communities. The dogs are so much fun to watch, so I think they qualify as "cool critters."

I gave you a sneak peek at this next "cool critter" in a previous post - with a teaser asking if you could guess what it was. Can you see it?

We were having our coffee in the great room one morning when I noticed this beautiful animal making its way across our yard.

The fox wandered in and out of the tree line for a few minutes. . .

and turned to head into the shade. . .

and we soon lost sight of him in the dense woods.

What a gorgeous animal! I saved my favorite photo of this fox for my Sunday Reflections post tomorrow. 

Oh, and I have to give a birthday "shout out" to 2 of my favorite people: (1) my younger brother, Danny, down in Florida and (2) my Aunt Edie here in the U.P. 

All is well in the Keweenaw.