Thursday, July 26, 2012

round island 7...

should be a mix of black and whites in here. i love how different everything looks in black and white. i really liked this simple trail shot above. sometimes you get lucky and a shot just is framed right and all the pieces fit together. it makes me all happy.
walrus relaxed on flat rock above, below is scott headed over to the sea lions.
more people for sure took advantage of the sea lion walk this trek out there.
walrus in mass in black and white. they are kinda cuter in colour though. i think this is how people really imagine they look as they always seem so surprised at how pink they actually are.
lots of pics will be seemingly duplicates, as i took them in colour and then over to black and white. i liked them for different reasons.
it seems i have brought i bit of the island home with me. i must have knocked my calf at some point. it continued pretty hot and red last night at work. did do better than over the weekend when i worked in the busier adult world, but in the wee hours the pain started to kick in more. my co-workers were i'd have to say more aghast than impressed at the color/temp and i was encouraged by them and again in the morning by the intensivist to get my leg looked at.
as usual the employee health was less than helpful when i arrived in the morning. they really need to allow time for morning walkins and thier receptionist should really be more trained in triage. i guess i am usually most upset that i'm put off and sent home without any assistance because i really work hard all night, every night to give my patients the best care i can and it is extremely disheartening to then get such "take a number" treatment when i need aid. luckily, the nurse practioner always seems to come to my aid and is totally helpful, kind and understanding...just have to get past that front desk. the NP called me at home before i had crashed to ask what she could do for me! thank you. at that moment i needed to sleep so she scheduled me to come back in the afternoon. i have been started on antibiotics and i swear i'm already feeling a smidgy better after just one dose if that is possible. of course, i also called out sick for tonight and have kept my leg elevated for most of the day.
it was a lovely day in anchorage and i laid out on my lawn chair with my leg up reading. this book, "still alice" is a bit unnerving. i mean we all are aging and there but the grace of god go i as they say. it makes you ponder each time you forget a word or have a lapse, like forgetting to put on your work shoes and get in the car in your slippers to go to work...oops!! my next dose of antiobiotic is due about 1-2 am. may plop a new movie in and again prop the leg.
the dogs have happily done slow, steady walks at the university lake dog park all week. have noticed that i'm more tired walking with this inflammation and cellulitis than i usually am. blossom just wants to chase the tennis ball and rio is happy to see friends and beg for treats.
see, same shot but totally different look.
sounds like work got busier today. always feel bad calling out sick, but they did have lots of picu nurses on today so hopefully it's all good. had one patient last night. called the doc several times. i'm always amazed that seemingly critical details that i react too bring very little reaction to others. this just means that i cause myself added work by seeing things that others seem to not notice. frustrating as i never could correct the issue. outcomes can be good, can be bad. everyone doesn't agree what is a good outcome and what is a bad outcome. i tend to see some outcomes that other see as good as bad. i'm more into quality of life. have to remind myself that kids can often surprise you with thier ability to rebound from things that no adult could ever survive. i remember a fellow nurse who had worked many years in a neuro icu told me once that for some odd reason age 15 was the cut off. oddly, under 15 your chances of pulling a miracle were much greater. over 15...it was just highly unlikely. i've found her experience to hold true in my experiences as well. so if you are going to get a head trauma try and do it before you turn 15.
another repeat shot. you can barely see the walrus below in black and white whereas in colour they pop out.
have my desk set up with a place to elevate my leg comfortably, just rearranged. makes a big difference.
blue skies...hard to remember when that happened. in truth most days we got a glimpse of blue out there. it never lasted. even the last day when we got our best blue, you could actually see to the top of the island...but it was going away before we left the island and as the boat took off the island was encased in a mushroom cloud. you could see it for miles. of course, once we got out there in the sea i ceased being able to look around at all and only prayed we'd make it back alive.
probably alot of the same pictures, but i still included them. the light changed all the time as did the walrus counts on the beaches.
a dog will never lie to you.
it is sad and frustrating to have someone lie to you. i can tolerate a great deal but dishonesty is just a bad character flaw. people just dig themselves in deeper and deeper. all you desire of them is for them to just come clean, admit thier mistakes and apologize. i think you just create a web when you lie that traps you in. my father was honest to a fault as they say and i think i inherited that from him. people might not like what you say sometimes, but ultimately, they know how you feel and they don't have to wonder. i have learned that some things are better left unsaid, not sure if that would be seen as dishonesty, but some people will never hear you or will just always see themselves a certain way. i don't know. with some poeple there is just no point, the message will never get through.
not sure why that is.
a landslide occurred this summer in glacier bay national park, one of the largest landslides ever recorded, but nobody noticed it. so strange and a testament to how immense our state is and how unpopulated some areas are. the landslide was noticed by a pilot flying overhead probably several weeks after it occurred. the photo's were impressive. it was over 5 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. seemingly hard to miss. the slide created a blip on the seismic monitors in the area. it was almost 15 miles up from the bay itself making it impossible to see from the bay itself where people tend to be.
the site of the slide was lituya mountain, apparently years back a landslide near this created a wave in the bay estimated at 1700 feet. hard to imagine a wave that huge. makes those waves in bristol bay not seem to tough i guess. some boat actually rode that huge wave out. not sure i'd ever get back in a boat after that.
apparently 4 bears were killed in my neighborhood this week. a black bear and her 3 cubs were killed today. the mother was killed a few days back. she was becoming a nuisance bear and teaching her cubs the same. after they killed the mother they felt the only humane thing to do was kill the cubs, there were no takers in the lower 48 and the cubs would have surely starved to death over time. still sad though.
never ran into this group out there on my walks, which i'm totally fine with.


got a gift card for amazon from my brother tom. :-) spent it the other day. bought replacement gear, a new dromadery for the one left on the boat, new basic rain gear for the gear shredded finally this year from use. great to be able to replace lost/worn gear. thanks tom and family!!
love the cool rocks out there. kayak island has cooler and more bizarre rocks. if you like strange rocks that is your island.
as scott would say..."bird". i'm partial to puffins though.
cormorants are beautiful and graceful as well.
looks like karen out there in this shot. i think she had a great time and got some fabulous photo's. we all decided she was impervious to rain and wind...she stayed out for hours more than everyone else. we all had to come back to the tent and get warm from time to time.
the walrus come back to the island. i had so much fun watching this process. you could watch them swimming in and work their way onto the land.
the guy in front looks like he's injured, they just take a few steps and then are so tired they lay down and rest a bit. they are huge and it takes alot of work to get on the beaches.
i feel like that after a long 12 hour shift some days.
great to have so much activity out there on the island all week. the weather wasn't ideal at all times, but it actually caused us to have so much totally cool walrus action.

when they aren't on the island in the big numbers you just look at the flowers, birds, lichens and fox. one should never be bored on round island in my opinion. it's not for everyone, some prefer to bear watch. you can do that pretty easily here in alaska, but how often can one get out to an island and watch walrus! i'm happy that everyone who went to round island on both trips was totally excited and committed to going. it's not a place to go if you just kinda are interested. far too much involved.
i've long since come to realize planning trips that the best group of people is a group that is all hyped up for the experience. anyone who is in half way will drag everyone down. luckily, that hasn't ever been an issue on my trips.

back to the walrus.
swimming and debating landing and landing sites.
i swear they are checking us out on occasion.

some coming in some going out.
surfing, walrus style.
a series of walrus with wave crashing over them.


love it! spent quite some time trying to get cool wave shots. not sure how successful i was....like my bird in flight shots, but still fun to watch and try.
another mini series..looks like hard work getting those big bodies up the beach.
stretch, lift belly, plop belly,
then pull back flippers forward.
that water is chilly, they got alot of fat and very thick skin.
some thicker than others.
wish i had that thick of skin sometimes...at least in theory. off to watch a movie i guess. i'm pretty sleepy though, hopefully, i make it through.

2 comments:

  1. Loving all these round island posts!! The walrus photos are so cool.

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  2. Love it, keep them coming.

    ReplyDelete