![[ Mrs. Holmes Home Page ]](graphics/home.gif)
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Day 15
March 16, 2002
Hello Everyone!
Everything has really quieted down here in Nome. It's not only because of the weather. Seems as though once the top 20 or 30 mushers are in, things begin to change. The big banners over the burl arch have been taken down, the huge media truck and scaffolding have been removed. It's sad to me because the other half of the mushers have worked just as hard as the first, or even harder, to make it to Nome. Even many of the race fans have gone away. I really see my importance here, cheering the mushers on as they come over the finish line. This is also why it is so important that Martin Buser and some of the other mushers are at the finish line to greet the incoming mushers too. The good part is that I can usually be waiting at the mushers' sides when they come in to greet them personally and take some wonderful photographs.
The blizzard has arrived. Never have I experienced such weather before. Not only were there snow and sleet, but very gusty strong winds. I was walking back to the hotel being pelted by the windblown precipitation. It was very difficult to walk against the wind. One second it was calm and then the wind would lash you to the side, then to the back. I had to angle myself as though I were pushing a piano in order to make any progress forward. It was really exciting, but I sure felt for the mushers too. Unfortunately it was the rookies who had to push through the weather, or wait it out. Most of them waited it out. It made no sense to push on since the blizzard would have created total whiteout, blinding conditions.
I spent the day touring the stores in town and taking photos to show you some of the native Inuit crafts. There was such a variety. I found the carvings to be the most stunning work. Whale bone and walrus tusks were the most frequently used materials. They do a beautiful job and use great detail.
A variety of materials are used to carve
Ivory cravings
Moccasins made from seal fur with ornamental beading
Dance fans are hand held and used to help tell stories in a dance
The dolls had faces of ivory and clothing of skins
Toward the end of the day Swingley and his entourage of mushers came over the finish line. Melanie, his fiancé, was waiting for him.
Melanie Shirilla, gazing down Front St. while waiting for her fiancé, Doug Swingley, to arrive
Melanie can't hold back her excitement as he enters the chute
A congratulatory hug
They ride off together to allow Jason and Harmony to come under the arch
Jason Barron and Harmony Kanavle came over the finish line holding hands. It was romantic, even though their slightly entwined dogs put on quite a show.
Jason and Harmony come across the finish line together
Daniel Vetsch, running Swingley's puppy team, made it to Nome soon after the others from Montana.
The final event of the day was the autograph signing session. All of the mushers gathered in the convention center and signed autographs for interested
fans.
The autograph signing session took place in the mini convention center
Doug Swingley signs a T-shirt for a fan
Children and adults were asking people to sign anything from books and posters, to T-shirts and jackets.
Aliy Zirkle signs this little girl's shirt
Can you see the signatures on this girls' light blue jacket? She said her mom didn't mind! The students are escorting Harmony Kanavle to the dog lot to park her team.
The wedding has been postponed until tomorrow morning since the mushers got in a little too late.
Click here for news of the wedding in tomorrow's entry.
Mrs. Holmes
Nome, - Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 10:07:02 (EST)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mrs. Holmes
|
|
![[ Marion Cross School ]](photos/MCS.jpg)
|
Webspace for Mrs. Holmes Iditarod 2002 project was provided courtesy of
ValleyNet of Norwich, Vermont.
