Nancy cowen and frank moe

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Nancy cowen and frank moe

Postby tanglefoot » Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:43 am

Sadly i heard the news today that we lost Nancy and Frank.

Nancy was a sled dog musher, mushing historian and online friend through the last great race and Frank Moe many may know as also a longtime musher both wonderful people from our mushing family who sadly both passed over to run their waiting teams where ever their new trails take them. Nancy sadly lost her battle with Covid and Frank from a brain tumour. Very sad.

For Frank & Nancy

The Last On-By

I had a dream the other night where a sled dog whispered in my ear, a story of sorts, that I’d not heard before. It was a tale of where tried and true mushers go when they pass that home trailhead for the last time. I was surprised by her presence, although I don’t know why; I believe these magnificent Souls are Angels from Heaven, here to teach us life’s most important lessons. Beyond unconditional love, they show us in action every day of their lives how to live in the moment, seizing each as if it were their last, and finding joy even when there appears to be none. They play as hard as they work, love as deeply as they are intelligent, wise beyond the human ego’s ability to understand. And the cooperation and bond a musher have with their dogs defies explanation yet is palpable enough to reach out and grab.

In my dream, I was watching the Northern Lights from the basket of my sled, my dogs bedded down in straw next to me. From my right, an old but powerful sled dog approached, and began to tell me this story. She looked to the skies full of the Divine’s art with pale brown eyes that burned with a passion for the mush, Blues and pinks and all the colors of the rainbow, dancing and swirling, all set against a cloudless sky and the Universe beyond. She began to explain to me that there is a time when a musher comes to the end of their Earth Walk, and adventure of the unknown beckons. When they come to that turn to head to home, they choose to on-by, knowing it is the last one before Heaven.

As they on-by that turn to home, the dogs glance to one another with knowing looks and renewed drive as they know that this mush will return their beloved musher back Home to Heaven from whence they all came. And it is at the moment of that last on-by where those that have gone before to the Rainbow Bridge sense their musher returning Home to Heaven. Their ears swivel forward, they raise their faces into the breeze, and at once they leap to their feet and begin a pack howl to announce the coming of that human that treated them with such respect.

When their musher approaches the Gates to Heaven, they dawn their Silver Harnesses and frolic in the snow; the Eternal and Divine Light glints off their harnesses into the clear night sky, prompting Auroras to their magnificence, and thunder snow from their foot-falls. The mushers who’ve lived their Earth Walks in accordance with the Dogs First ideal, a true mushing lifestyle of respect, trust and love, brings on glorious festivities in anticipation of their musher’s arrival at the Gates of Heaven. These mushers, and those honorary mushers and sled dog enthusiasts that walked this talk from their hearts to ensure good lives for all, are greeted in this way after their last on-by in their Earth Walk. And that celebration in the sky is there for all those with hearts to see and Souls to understand.

The old lead dog sat with me for a short spell, watching the wonders in the sky that I now understood to be the festivities in Heaven as a new musher had arrived Home once again, to seek new trails with their team that had gone before. She nuzzled my face as I stroked her lean body, and just like that, she disappeared into the night, trotting that gorgeous trot of the distance dog.

And it is thus that the story was told to me, which I now tell you. As we lose those we cherish in our community, their wisdom and experience gone from our ears, but never our hearts and minds. In passing that knowledge on, we honor them as for what they shared with us, in order for us to be the best mushers we could for our dogs. So, when you look to the skies and see the Milky Way, dancing colors and hear thunder snow, be sure to think of them, as they have so thought of you ~

GODSPEED – by Nancy Cowan

Like a mist, consciousness drifted over the drowsy group. Here and there a muzzle lifted so the owner could scent-scan the air. A dozen pairs of ears swivelled, then pricked. She was coming. One by one, they sensed her approach.

A heavy tail thumped as a Malamute gazed down the starry path. It had been a long time for him, this waiting. No matter, the feel of her caress was fresh and unfaded. He had slumbered for over forty years, paws twitching, dreaming of her arrival and of dashes over mountain trails. He never knew when his breath had frozen mid-dream. He had just continued his sleepy vigil.

“She comes.” The knowledge passed from dog to dog. A shaggy form rose and yawned. How many steps had he taken at her side – through busy, happy years, through lean and bitter years? Nearby, a nervous whine escaped the wolfish throat of a more anxious creature.

A shifting of weight from paw to paw betrayed the restlessness of the show dog. His immaculate coat showed no rumpling from his long repose. Beside him, a little bitch crept forward to peer between the shoulders of those in front of her.

Across the broad expanse, dogs were rising, throwing off the effects of their deep slumber. Ice crystals from New England, the Rockies, Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctica were flung into the air to mingle and fall with a minute tinkling sound.

They all knew she had loved them. The unchangeable law that a dog’s life is of short duration compared to a man’s had doomed her to countless partings. Her dogs would be waiting, the old timers said, to pull her sled through Eternity. The mushers’ legend had comforted her and, years later when she was frail and aged, she would think of her dogs resting expectantly, timelessly, until the reunion should come. Could such a thought come true?

Closer. She was very near now. A small fox of a Siberian stirred and climbed to her feet. She was dwarfed by a grey giant who had pushed to the front of the crowd. They shared a question, “Who will lead for the mistress?”

The answer came as a massive paw extended and flexed. Tawny fur rippled as the dog stretched and shook off decades of sleep. The mistress’s first lead dog would be her leader now.

The great dog went to stand far ahead of a grey weathered sled. Slowly, tentatively, the multitude found their places. The legend was coming alive. A promise was being kept.

A chubby, clownish face turned to look back. It split in the trademark Husky grin. All stood ready. She was here.

The mistress stepped across the threshold and paused. Her breath caught. Her heart thumped a last beat. The scene cleared before her eyes as years fell away from her eyes, body. It was true – all as it had been foretold.

A team of a thousand strong stood before her. Sled dogs of every description…each a well loved friend eager to be away, to race down the trail. A querying bark from the golden dog in the lead broke her reverie. She smiled. With the swift, free motion of a youth, she stepped upon the runners and placed her hand on the driving bow. Team, sled and driver sprang ahead and vanished in a flurry of snowflakes and wind rush. Godspeed.

Copyright Nancy Cowan.
Believe in your dog team and your dog team will believe in you. – Frank Turner
TANGLEFOOT SLED DOG RACING TEAM
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Re: Nancy cowen and frank moe

Postby JeanieB » Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:06 am

So much loss in the past 2 years! So sad to see the loss of these legends. I have not been 'here' on the forum for quite a long time, and really miss the ones of you who are not on FB. When I see how few posts that have been in the last year, it looks like this way of communication is shifting, too. I was in as of the coverage of the Copper Basin on FB this year! Compare that to our first years here, getting to know and live all of you on dial-up internet! And following races on spreadsheets only! Hugs to all!
JeanieB
"When women reach a certain age, they begin to collect dogs. This is known as "Many - Paws""
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Re: Nancy cowen and frank moe

Postby Another UK Fan » Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:18 pm

Thanks for sharing the sad news Tangles and for sharing those beautiful stories. They are wonderful to read, and healing.

JeanieB - loving your thoughts. Yes, we were lucky to all get to know each other.
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Re: Nancy cowen and frank moe

Postby txbennett » Tue Jan 18, 2022 4:40 am

My assessment of our communications is that at Iditabuds.com we communicate because we want to whereas on Facebook we communicate because something pops up on our browser. I find myself limiting my communication on both of these forums where I know less and less about who is doing the talking.

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