Our annual cycle used to follow very predictable seasons. In the fall we attended corn mazes and bonfires on weekends while Tabitha and I took the horses out for evening trail rides after work. Over the winter we ventured out for hikes or an occasional ski trip and enjoyed cocoa in the evening beside the wood stove. Spring brought rain and lots of local kayaking. Then summer would roll around again and bring our most fun. From May through September, we spent almost every weekend camping at the Ocoee, Nantahala, or Hiwassee. During the hot days we splashed through rapids and in the evenings we roasted hobo meals in the coals of our campfires with a big group of friends.

This was the ritual we followed through all four seasons of the first 10 years of Ian’s life. And then he finally wore us down and the sled dogs moved in.

Now we have a different annual clock. Fall is all about getting the dogs back into shape. The weight pull season also starts in fall. Winter is for Ian to run his dogs at our local start parks with his rig and travel to Alaska to mush with his Auntie Shantie. Spring concludes the weight pull season and let’s Ian run the dogs for a few more weeks. We expected all of these changes when Ian took on the persona of a dryland musher, but didn’t expect that summer would have our biggest changes. Now the hot season revolves around taking dogs for walks early in the mornings and late in the evenings throughout the worst of the heat. Days off from work are used to take the dogs hiking up creek beds so they can stay cool while getting their zoomies out. It’s a bit harder to slip away for whole weekends of riding whitewater with four dogs in tow.

While I miss seeing all of our paddling buddies, and I definitely miss the cold Nantahala water on 95 degree days, I am learning to enjoy this new rhythm of our lives. Summer has always been such a rush of preparing, packing, leaving town, returning home to unpack and do laundry while working through the week, just to rush off again at 4:30 on Friday. We’re all finding some much needed rest in our more relaxed schedule. And most of all, we need this slower paced summer so that Ian can accomplish his goal of 3 school grades in two year.

Ian’s typical week includes lots of dog chores, music practice, and his self paced school work. Mondays and Fridays are for accomplishing his school work at home. Tuesdays and Thursdays include reading/writing/spelling tutoring with Lindsey. Wednesday is for violin and mandolin lessons with Mrs. Howell. This week, Ian attended sewing camp each morning at Peachtree Learning Center, with all his other tasks being pushed to the afternoon. Next month, he will attend a week of theater camp. On top of the camps, tutoring, and music, Ian completes a math lesson each day through Teaching Textbooks and a science lesson each day through Exploration Education.

Another advantage of our slower summer is that we’re better able to keep up with the garden. The weeds don’t get away from Brinn quite as quickly and the dogs enjoy lounging around the garden while we pick green beans and stake up tomato plants. Falcon particularly enjoys time spent in the garden. Do you remember the lion, Jasmine, from Second Hand Lions? She moved into the corn patch and decided it was her American jungle. Falcon has decided that the space between green bean rows is his jungle. We joke that he is our Second Hand Husky. He loves to stretch out on the cool dirt in the shade and peep his nose out of his green bean canopy to spy on the rest of us. Jenna likes to run through the loose dirt of the garden and sling it behind her as she digs her toes in. Balto and Shallot have developed quite a taste for blackberries lately, so they follow me down the fence line every evening and demand their share of my haul.

Ian is growing mini pumpkins again this summer, and hopes that they do well enough to sell during his fall fundraiser. He also spends a lot of time in his small swimming pool. Gone are the days of season passes to Dollywood, so he’s had to find a new way to cool off. Three of his four dogs think that they also need to cool off daily in the pool.

It’s a different kind of summer, for sure, but when do we ever do anything conventionally? I guess I’ll be making blackberry jam tomorrow if Balto and Shallot leave me enough berries.