Taking the time to actually write someone a holiday card and mail it feels like too much of a hassle these days. But what if a professional dogsled team of very good huskies made that trip to the post office for you?
This a real-life adorable offer, courtesy of Blair Braverman, a pro dog musher and freelance writer. This week, the 29-year-old tweeted that if you mail her your cards, she and the pups will transport them to the P.O. via dogsled, for free (provided you stamp the letters, of course). It’s impossible not to like the idea.
We’ll be carrying your holiday cards by dogsled! Just for fun! And because we love the dogs and we all need extra joy! Please share widely. pic.twitter.com/gquzgTHe30
— Feminist Jack London (@BlairBraverman) November 1, 2017
Braverman doesn’t mind the errand. She and her husband and their 21 canine racers live out in the woods, in the 500-person town of Mountain, Wisconsin, where the post office a mile down the road is probably their closest connection to the outside world.
Well, except for Twitter: despite her spotty internet service, Braverman, a columnist for Outside Magazine and the author of a memoir about her early days of dog mushing called “Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube,” has gained a substantial following of fans of her dogs and her words.
“I started sharing pictures of the dog team, and people really started to care about them, it was so moving to me,” she tells me on a call made via Google phone (she has no landline or cell service). Connecting with folks over snail mail seemed like another fun way to offset the isolation of the writer-musher lifestyle.
I asked Xander how he liked running in lead and he gave me THE PAW which I think means 10/10 pic.twitter.com/bftkVQm7Lk
— Feminist Jack London (@BlairBraverman) November 2, 2017
And for Refried, Haricot, Garbanzo, Fava, et al. (several members of the pack are named after different kinds of beans), it’s no big deal to make a quick stop at the P.O., as they’re out trekking through the snow all day anyway. They’re training for a 400-mile race at the end of January called the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, and Braverman is hoping to get them doing 40-miles at a time.
Besides, dogsledding and mail delivery go together, historically.
“The sport evolved in part as a way to deliver mail to really isolated northern communities and so a lot of modern races retrace those mail delivery routes,” she tells me.
As adorable proof that the mail-mutts have toiled through the snow to transport your letters, Braverman will stamp each card with a silhouette of her dog, Refried, printed, “This letter was carried by dogsled.”
The offer stands from now through New Year’s. Braverman advises folks to allow an extra two weeks for the mail to arrive, you know, factoring in the dog-travel.
Better yet, forget your fam, and just write these pup pals a letter:
Blair Braverman, c/o BraverMountain Mushing, PO Box 26, Mountain, WI, 54149.
