signs of life and one welcome death....

osama bin laden is dead. gotta hand it to those navy seals. they got the job done efficiently. he was apparently given the chance to surrender and chose death instead. his body was dropped off at sea. probably a good idea to not bury him and creat some potential mecca, though i hope they took pictures of his dead body and clipped some hair for dna testing as i'm sure there are those who will say his death was staged. his work of hatred will no doubt carry on despite his departure from earth. do i feel safer with him gone, not necessarily, but i've no sadness at his death. that sort of hate is best removed from society and left in gods hands.
yesterday the news was all about the big royal wedding in england and today it is the death of a terrorist. actually, this will be good for william and his new bride and they may get some peace and privacy. i was at work during the wedding. yes, i watched. well, between emptying foley's, getting blood sugars, handing out pain meds...all the usual icu tasks. it was hit and miss that night so i watched the following day after i woke up. was able to watch the bbc version which was much better than the american version. the americans kept yakking. her dress was beautiful as was her bridesmaids dress. some thought it odd that the colour of her bridesmaids dress was white, i think it almost made her part of the wedding dress itself as she was in charge of the large train. i watched the marriage of charles and diana and the eventual funeral of diana. must be so strange to be born into such a life. our country has no royalty. with good reason and history with kings and such was not always the good life. thier power is greatly limited at this point, but thier historical significance isn't. it's cool to observe all the tradition and details that went along with royal life. thier presence is enduring and that, in and of itself can be a comfort. enjoyed the history and traditions and all the details and pomp and circumstance that goes with the royal wedding. i quite enjoyed it all and i may have even teared up a time or two.
the first picture was at the campbell airstrip trail system. of course, there was a bear sighted sign on the trailhead. those first sightings always get me a bit twitchy. had two dogs and bear spray and all that, but you have to get used to being out with predators that can and may kill you. funny, i've walked the trails for years with rare sightings, but still the idea of coming across a bear makes you take a moments pause. i've had probably 10-20 bear sightings while out hiking over the years. considering i hike every day i'm guessing that's not that many really, and i've never been attacked or even charged. i have been charged by moose and that is no pleasant sight, those animals get huge as they near you. luckily most animals would rather not waste thier energy on humans. working in the icu's does bring you face to face with people whose encounters with bears went the bad way. over the years the more sightings and more patients and news of attacks can make one more nervous. my walk wasn't like i would normally do so i'll have to just buck up and not let those bears get me freaked out. did turn out to be pretty out.
the kitten is in the outdoor cat run my friend added on to the house. i open it on nice days so the cats can get some fresh air, smell the world and listen to the birds. they seem to like it.

had assumed that i was working tonight. slept like i was and then suddenly recalled that my schedule which is pretty set had changed this week by request. it was like i got a free day that i had no idea of. it turned out to be pretty out. i did some raking and hung out in the yard for several hours. thought of doing this or doing that, but it was a lovely evening in the end.

really liked these pictures of the dogs. rio above and blossom below. such great dogs. we've been to the dog park the last 2 days. the edges of the lake are thawed so i feel pretty safe taking them there now. i did hear the sounds of a sandhill crane yesterday, though didn't see any. they are out there somewhere. love the cranes! the pups enjoyed several hours out there in the sunshine.

with my free time i headed to lowes to check paint samples. bought a few things as well. need to repot that tomato plant. also bought this adorable bird feeder. is this thing cute or what? hopefully the birds like it.

the alaska pacific university is not a big fan of the dog park. they have fought against it since it's inception. (strangely, the entire time the dog parks were being discussed and planned the university was silent). the university built a fence this past year to seperate the lake trail from thier soccer fields. of course, today as i was walking around a few people had circled around the fence and were in the soccer field with thier dogs off leash. it's always one of those moments...do you do the good citizen thing and let them know the rules and come off like the big bitch or do you just keep walking? for me it's people like this, who believe the rules do not apply to them, that ruin things for everyone else. we used to be allowed to park in native offices parking area's after hours and on the weekends, but the entitled decided they could park there whenever they wanted and now nobody can park there. it's just so annoying, these entitled people. so i opted to be the bitch and let her know that she was on university property and her actions could negatively impact our ability to have a dog park. her reasoning was that bike riders use the dog park and she's seen university students there at the dog park. i explained to her that the dog park is a public park and anyone can use it, whereas she was currently on private property. i know she was snarky with me, but she did come around the fence line back into the dog park. hate to be the bitch, but i do like the dog park and i really don't want the entitled to lose this great place for the rest of us.

my evening was spent on the phone with my neice, claire. we talk on occasion and it seems like it had been awhile. her husband is out of town and she'd put her kids down for the night. we must have chatted for nearly 4 hours. we always can find more to talk about and we laughed and laughed. she is the oldest of my neices and nephews and i was only 13 myself when she was born. we grew up together in some ways. i babysat alot and eventually we just became friends. the summer before she got her license i'd let her drive my car to the beach all the time, we'd hang out, rollar blade, swim and talk hockey. anyway, really wonderful to be able to catch up. those are the days you wish we all lived closer. luckily, our world is filled with devices that allow us to communicate in many ways with each other. anyway, it was a great way to spend my surprise night off. i really do like that there are blogs and facebook as i've been able to reconnect with family more. it's easy to move away and detach, but family is fun and important.

these are from the trees in the backyard. below is the dreaded cottonwood. there will soon be leaves but the leaves are encased right now is this sticky covering which will fall off and attach to blossom and rio's feet and then everything else. in july little puffs of cottony fluff with fly off and coat the yard. some days it looks like it's snowing in july.

despite that...i'm excited as these small signs of spring. my favorite day of spring is when all the trees seem to miraculously turn green on the same day. those are the brightest green leaves you'll ever see. it's crazy.

work kept me busy but not insane. got a bit crazy my last night. some seizures won't stop no matter what. not sure if that patient is with us anymore. sad case. addiction is a horrible thing. seems some people just get sucked in and find no escape besides death.

these stellars stopped by the other morning. so beautiful. love a nice jay bird. hopefully, i'll get more bird sightings in the yard with my new bird feeder. we're suppose to put them away, but i doubt a bear will climb over the fence to get to my feeders..famous last words eh? they do wander through here from time to time.

rio is even asking to be let outside, just to be outside. it's kinda miraculous considering how much seperation anxiety she had when she first joined the household. makes me feel great that she can now sit on the deck and be away from me for a bit and still feel safe.

she was also very anxious about creeks and lakes and even puddles when i first got her...look at her now, all happy wading out in university lake.

as you can see it was a beautiful day here. i'm sleepy now.

i'm sure the news will have more on osama bin ladens death tomorrow, best i just get to bed. my neice was the one who told me the news as we chatted. hadn't turned on the television.