swans, swans and more swans....

had a class for work on wednesday. it was mandatory and right in the middle of my day. as these things go it wasn't the worst class ever. some are just so silly. like pep talks, but pep talks are rarely effective when forced down an employees throat.
after the class i grabbed the pups and headed off to n bivouac for a little walk before i had to return to work for my 12 hour shift. figured to just get in 2-3 miles and saw these 4 swans off in the distance on the big ponds out there. of course, that meant i had to walk across several hundred feet of bog. if you've never walked on bog it's not the most stable substrate out there. it's very spongy. in the summer this would have been impossible as the mosquito's would have eaten us all.

i was delighted that these 4 swans decided to swim over to us. must have been curious of us. i, of course, loved the reflections and lighting as well.

one must always be ready to extend a walk when a photo op is presented. swans are always a grand photo op. i never bore of them.....they are just so graceful and beautiful. soon there will be no swans. the darkness comes earlier and earlier each day. hate seeing my days end earlier, but come december the reverse will again begin. does make one appreciate and take advantage of the light we are given each day. not sure i could live in the far north where the sun is gone for months. i enjoy getting out in the light we get. as it is we get down to maybe 5 hours of light per day...with dusk and dawn that seems appreciably less.

worked the peds floor the first night. we were all quite busy out there. got to work with margaurite, one of my favorite nurses. she's been nursing longer than i've been alive. without giving her age she is a good 10 years post retirement age. she totally rocks though. we always laugh when we work together. we have the same attitude on most all things. i'm always praying that i get many years with an intact mind. life is joy and i hope i don't lose any of the joy of this earth from dementia or the like. it's so devastating. of course, i'm sure some would say i have already lost my mind.

really, i'm greedy and hope to stay on this earth for many years to come as there is still so much for me to experience, learn and enjoy. each day is truely a gift and i am blessed. it's funny that some struggle to "think positive" and find something to be grateful for every day. people do exercises to write down what they are grateful for. my list seems endless...i don't know how so many people can feel such despair when surrounded by such beauty.

look at these birds...are they not a sight to behold. i'm sure they know how absolutely beautiful they are. probably don't interact with the mere geese, ducks and grebes, eh?

blossom seemed quite awestruck by the swans as well. she's pretty good around wildlife. rarely barks when seeing them on trails....now if she sees them from the house or car, that is a totally different thing. rio was also curious. felt bad dragging rio through the bog but the birds had to be photographed.

when i'm new at a job i tend to be quiet, which is amazing for me really. i suppose this means that i actually can control my mouth and just choose not to. please do not tell. hehe. anyway, i do stay in an observational mode. i want to people watch and get a feel for the personalities i'll be working with, who you can trust, who you can learn from, who to avoid. i've noticed other people come in rather loudly. i recall one travel nurse introduced herself to me like, "hi, my name is tammy, i know everything so if you have any questions feel free to ask me". we never did work well after that. i think the only time i've cried at work was after she had been horrible to me. she was always horrible to me. we'd work 12 hours and rarely utter a word to each other. (and this was in a 4 bed icu).

i remember a friend at the time gave me some kind words. she told me that if only one person will be your friend and everyone else hates you, well you probably have a personality issue, but if most people like you and just one person is hateful to you, well it's probably just that one persons issue.

sometimes first impressions are totally on, sometimes in time you can come to know a person and find they aren't as much like thier first impression came off. i have several friends who i didn't like when i first came to know them. it's always best to keep an open mind. i don't think as a new person to a unit it's a good idea to keep your opinions and comments to yourself for a bit, find out who your real allies are. i also tend to roll my eyes are people who are overly confident for thier exeriences. cockiness is never an attractive quality, nor is yammering on about how wonderful you are.

got a new bumper sticker for my yakima today. a quote i've loved for quite some time. i think my neice, claire, sent a birthday card to me a few years back with the quote on it. "well behaved women rarely make history". so true. another favorite quote that i'd like to get on a bumper sticker for the car is, "practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty".

it took some will power to get me to the pool today. i did finally get in. stupidly, i went into the steam room first. it makes getting in the pool so much harder. freezing. i went in after my laps as well, as a reward. they close early weekends so i didn't get all my laps, but it felt good. free swim was just ending. i see those same lifeguards often and they looked wiped today. there were lots of kids in there today. they seemed to have thier hands full.

some sort of hawk feather. looked pretty there. i balanced on some bog matter and get a picture.

i slept until almost 2:30 this afternoon. i usually wake up earlier when i know i don't have to return to work but i must have been sleepy. i decided to head out to the coastal wildlife refuge. i haven't gone this time of year to the one area and i couldn't take the trail i was hoping. apparently it's very marshy and wet when not frozen. the place does have a wonderful sledding hill i'd like to test out this winter. in the end i walked with the dogs along the railroad tracks.

after we'd done that for maybe 3 miles we drove over to potters marsh so i could check out the swans hanging there. i climbed back over the tracks a few times for some landscape pictures. it just looked pretty.

funny all these people were out photographing the swans. they had huge cameras and lenses and didn't seem to look to see if there was anything else worth photographing. i don't have the big lenses and all that, but sometimes the best shots are missed if you sit and stare at just one aspect of your surroundings. you can see sleeping lady in the distance in the above shot.

love using railroad tracks in pictures. potters is along turnigan arm if you aren't familiar.

reflections and distant swans.

the plants are always fun anytime of year. thought these looked cool out there.

and as i walked along the highway by the marsh this guy popped out. never got a great shot of him, but always cool to get sightings of little otters or whatever he is.

more plant life out there.

back to swans. there were several pairs out there at potters. i'd guess at least 15 birds.

the trees south of town have a few more leaves than the ones near my house have.

i think the swans enjoy getting thier pictures taken. i had one swan in ketchikan who i swear loved his photo op and posed for me over and over again.

a few of them had pretty dirty mugs. they are filling up in preparation for thier long journey south.

old poem:

-

i watched as a star ran away,

he must have landed in russia,

or maybe africa,

for i never saw him touch down,

i just watched as he broke loose,

from his great galaxy.

sometime, i too, will run away,

far away from my suburban home,

maybe i'll run like he to russia or africa,

and i shall search and find that star,

i'll climb to a point,

hold tight,

and send him back to light the sky,

and sing the world a lullaby. '83

well i'd guess i did get away from my suburban home like that poem predicted. not to russia or africa, not yet anyway. still places i'd like to explore...russia, africa, austrailia, new zealand, antarctica...just to name a few.

well, here it is almost 2 am and i'm still goofing around, watching james herriot episodes and craving a chocolate shake.

okay, i think this above picture of swans in flight is my favorite of the day. came out quite nicely....luck and location....that is photography.

another fine shot of sleeping lady and below the inlet looking in.

and looking across to the kenai peninsula.

i think there are 8 swans in this picture. love the trees in the back

it's the season of constant political ads. so annoying. my friend had mentioned one that she found especially stupid, i saw it the other day. it really is dumb. the democratic candidate for senator is from southeast alaska. not much experience to brag about so instead he mentions something about his years as a fisherman and having norwegian fisherman swearing at him in norwegian and that if he can handle that he can handle anything. obviously not a direct quote. i tend to forget temperatures if i don't write them down immediatley. it's as stupid as the statement palin made about being able to see russia from here.

these last pictures are from the walk along the tracks. it was a pleasant walk. i was a bit anxious about the homeless dude. he was setting up down the tracks. it gets cold at night. he was already drunk, but pretty young. what a sad waste these young people who have already become lost to society it seems.

that area by the inlet is where i walk once the ground is frozen up and the walking easier.

there is a little trail that runs along side the tracks, i think it actually goes pretty far. i turned around as it was getting later and the bear scat was making me nervous too, though i had my bear spray and 2 large dogs.

loved the yellows above and that there are still some flowers out there making it.

i shall now follow these tracks to bed. must really work on the to do list. rei has a sale and i need a new puffy coat for winter.

goodnight all.