Ryan Garcia
The herd of 400-pound caribou was running 50 miles an hour and directly at me. The 30 animals had been eating lichen in the Arctic tundra in Alaska when something spooked them. I was sitting in their escape route. The ground began to vibrate once they cracked 100 yards. At 50 yards, I could see their hooves smashing the ground and kicking up moss and moisture. Then they were at 40 yards, then 35.
I could hear their breathing, smell their coats, and see all the details of their ornate antlers. Just as I was wondering if the rescue plane would be able to spot my hoof-pocked corpse, one of the caribou noticed me and swerved. The herd followed, shaking the earth as they swept left and summited a hillcrest, their antlers black against a gold sky.
Check out the new databases available at Bossier libraries
Annie Gilmer
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This week in library news: we’ve added new databases to our collection! We’ve expanded our offerings in the news and history sectors with three new databases: Black Life in America, HeritageHub, and America’s News, which are all brought to you by NewsBank. Each database uses credible news sources to highlight various subjects and events throughout United States history and we’re thrilled to be able to provide access to them as we continue our mission to provide access to reliable resources for our patrons.
I recently found myself standing in the Arctic tundra, about 120 miles from civilization, in Kotzebue, Alaska, with half a year’s worth of dinner 100-plus pounds of caribou strapped to my back. Gnarled four-foot antlers burst from the top of my pack, and my shoulder straps felt so weighty that I thought they might slice me lengthwise into thirds. I was up there on a backcountry hunt, and all I needed to do was carry my meat back to camp. Thing is, the five-mile slog was uphill and across a savage landscape that existed in an ice-cream-like state, all spongy layers, dense moss, mucky swamp, and basketball-sized tufts of grass. No easy path.
The world’s parcel delivery services are slammed beyond capacity, but it’s not too late to give the gift of knowledge this holiday season. Just call up a local bookstore near your giftee’s address and have them put aside a copy of one of the books below. Or better yet, order a few for yourself. This winter, more than any other, is the right time to curl up on the sofa next to a big stack of books and stay the heck inside (other than during your daily workout or adventure, of course).
The list rules: these are books I liked this year. Some are old, others are new, and a few are still to come. They generally align with the themes of the Sweat Science column science, endurance, fitness, adventure but sometimes the connection is pretty slender. For more ideas, check out the fall book list I put together back in September.