Maybe Carl Jung Had A Malamute Associate

Okay, I already said Luky was excited this week. Actually, his excitement about this week's debut of the 25 (the) anniversary of COSMOS on the Science Channel was only one reason. He has been talking about that for weeks.

However, he's in a general state of enthusiasm these days. Why? It's obvious to me - having lived with him for nearly eight years - Winter is coming.

This morning's temperature was in the mid-60's. Why does he think that means we have to do a bunch of running and jumping? No telling . . . but it's no longer just about strolling through the dogpark and doing away with other canine scents. We're talking in the hallway, sniffing every mild rustle of breeze . . . plus, his tail has grown an exaggerated white tassel at the end which he flips and twirls to punctuate every word and movement. (Sometimes I envy his capacity for tail punctuation!)

Last evening we took a long walk - a long walk for Luky, that is. It was all of a mile and a half. Oh sure, he appears strong and virile . . . got that wolfdog-look going . . . but when it comes down to it Malamutes are all talk and little action! Sled dog!?!? Right!!

My opinion gets short shrift around here, though! Luky is surfing websites - like http://www.sleddog.org/; and http://www.sleddogcentral.com/; and of course http://www.iditarod.com/. He likes to compare the Iditarod to my marathons (I've run a few - officially 31 so far, plus four 50-milers, and a couple of 30 to 40 mile personal fun runs). Humans tend to call anything over 26.2 miles (the official marathon distance) "ultra" - as in, "ultramarathon."

Anyway, Luky seems to enjoy noting that all of my years of official marathoning don't add up to even one Iditarod (which is more than 1,130 miles). He also enjoys advising that the entry fee for the Iditarod is something like $1,800 and the winner gets almost $900,000.

Okay - okay!!! I guess there's big money to be found in most sports.

It was Carl Jung, I believe, who first - or at least most-successfully - alerted us to the idea of the collective unconscious. Luky's response to cooler weather - to the point of trying to abscond with the phone and my credit card so he could order one of the 2006 sweatshirts (http://www.iditarodstore.com/browse.cfm/4,3286.htm, which features the face of a dog with whom, Luky swears, he studied at Oxford . . .

. . . well, all I can say is I wish Carl could see Luky's behavior around the first of October!