We're in for a big snow event. It began last night with a single snow squall that left a little over one inch. Today it will continue, although the second phase of the storm has barely begun. We are supposed to get four to eight inches today and tonight.

Send out the dogs. Get the sleds loaded with victuals and whisky, and if you have room, send over some interesting posts, because I will be here reading them (as I have no intention of venturing outside.)

BALTO: HERO DOG

In January 1925, doctors realized that a potentially deadly diphtheria epidemic was poised to sweep through Nome's young people. The only serum that could stop the outbreak was in Anchorage, nearly a thousand miles (1,600 km) away. The only two aircraft that could quickly deliver the medicine had been dismantled for the winter; after considering alternatives, officials decided to move the medicine by sled dog. The serum was transported by train from Anchorage to Nenana, where the first musher embarked as part of a relay aimed at delivering the needed serum to Nome. More than 20 mushers took part, facing a blizzard with −53 °F temperatures and strong winds. News coverage of the race was worldwide.

On February 2, 1925, the Norwegian Gunnar Kaasen drove his team, led by Balto into Nome. The longest and most hazardous stretch of the run was actually covered by another Norwegian, Leonhard Seppala and his dog team, led by Togo. They came from Nome towards the end of the run and picked up the serum from musher Henry Ivanoff. The serum was later passed to Kaasen.

Kaasen did not consider Balto a particularly good lead dog, but Balto proved himself on the Iditarod trail, saving his team from certain death in the Topkok River. Balto was also able to stay on the trail in near whiteout conditions in which Kaasen admitted he could barely see his hand in front of his face. During a blizzard, Kaasen and his team missed the last sled dog team and had to take the medicine twice as far, which was what eventually brought them to fame. (from Wiki)

After the mission's success, Balto and Kaasen became celebrities. A statue of Balto, sculpted by Frederick Roth, was erected in New York City's Central Park on December 17, 1925, just 10 months after Balto's arrival in Nome. Balto himself was present for the monument's unveiling. [3] The statue is located on the main path leading north from the Tisch Children's Zoo. [4] In front of the statue a low-relief slate plaque depicts Balto's sled team, and bears the following inscription:
“Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin 660 miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925.
Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence”

Balto and his companions were bought by vaudeville sideshow operators and toured the country for the next two years. Hearing of this, Cleveland, Ohio residents raised $2,000 to purchase the seven dogs and gave them a permanent home at the Cleveland Zoo in March 1927. They received a hero's welcome, attracting more than 15,000 visitors on their first day in the zoo. Balto died in Cleveland on March 14, 1933, at 11 years old; his body was stuffed and placed on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

On December 22, 1995, Universal Pictures released the animated film Balto. The film was loosely based on the events of the 1925 Serum Run.

Reference was also made to Balto in the Alistair Maclean novel "Night Without End".

Balto was the most famous dog in history. Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were only actors, and they were many dogs, not a single dog of those names. They did nothing but follow the trainer's commands in front of cameras.

Balto had his own ticker tape parade in New York City! Balto's courage and endurance is legendary, as are those of the other dogs who took the serum to Nome.

The Iditarod Run held every year in Alaska commemorates the determination of those heroic dogs and men who put their lives on the line to save the people of Nome. Many dogs died or were permanently injured during that great and epic effort. In Alaska, the spirit of Balto lives!

So as I sit here banging at this computer, wondering how I will manage to go the two miles through this snow to visit my old mother, I know I would be ashamed if I didn't try.