last of Kennicott

 relaxing day in some ways.  got lots of little things done...still need to do some bills though i guess...then the day will be a success. chores.  gotta get to them on occasion.  i try to avoid it...my house shows it though.  i really need to do some major purging of crap.

 winter is coming.  i can always say now that i will do that in the dark hours of winter. it will perk me up to unload the place of crap.  also need to plan my kitchen remodel.  wrote the construction guy to plan for spring. 

 those stairs felt daunting after my hike to the glacier that day. it was a hot day...well hot by AK standards anyway.

 the rest are from the drive out.  i had debated staying in Valdez overnight. but then it really started to rain and there was road construction and i was ready to just get home to my puppies i think.

 swans just chilling...now they are on the move, migrating.  many birds have booked already.  reverse of spring. 

 did manage a walk.  just headed out to Kincaid for a stretch around Little Campbell Lake.  debated a run to see the whale.  they just did the necropsy yesterday though so that will mean the whale will be more stinky now.  after the last time when Blossom lay down in a pool of whale guts...it became easy to just skip it.  besides, low tide wasn't until after 7 pm.  many friends seem to be making their way down to see the whale.  let the gagging begin.  probably the only time to go would have been really early before the necropsy. 

 took the pups one by one to PetSmart after the walk.  Ivy Rose had lost her tag.  i suspect it was left on the hillside during a wrestle session yesterday.  we walked out a ways of the southfork trail.  it had been foggy but cleared and was a beautiful afternoon. 

 debated yesterday doing a longer walk, but i think when i walk alone i am less inclined to go over 6-8 miles.  not sure why.  in truth with the dogs, 3-5 miles seems to work for them, it's a good work out.  I'm happy, they are happy.  they could care less where we go.  i change it up more for me i think, though i suspect dogs like the change of smells too.  but some good walks and such this stretch off.  back to work again tomorrow

 flowers are nearly all gone...though i still have some strawberries in my garden.  leaves are falling faster than i can rake them up.

 took the tomatoes and cucumbers i think out of the planters and tossed some bulbs in there.  never know if those will grow.  stick them in and forget them. if they do, great. 

 also got a clear layer of paint sprayed on the main little library.  should protect it.  arranged to get the folks out who let you know if you are going to dig on anything critical.  figure i can map out where to put in the library and get that set up.  this guy was supposed to be getting back in town on the 20th...still haven't heard anything from him.  could be his mom got worse and he isn't back, i have no idea. did buy some brick to try to set up an area. should probably just buy a post and put it in the ground with this on it and then just try for the full set up next spring.  have been excited to get it out there...so this has been frustrating.

 enjoy watching Rachel Maddow.  love that she tends to avoid the fluff out there and really tries to focus on news.  talking about Rus and how they have been messing with elections across the globe and have become masters at social media.  it's pretty scary what they have managed to do.  scary as well that so many fellow citizens choose to ignore this real threat to our nation.  it's pretty sad.  frustrating as i watch so many obsess about this football crap...looks like Rus bots are involving themselves in this as well...divide and conquer.  it's one of the oldest strategies in the books....well even before books.

 iitoo tweets and his followers freak.  guess people are burning season tickets and football jerseys.  sadly, the folks who will be hurt worse by them not showing up at games is the regular folks working the booths and parking lots and such. 

 someone had posted that if these players were protesting abortions all these supposed patriots would be cheering them and getting down on one knee.  I'm calling it patriotic correctness.  all hail the flag unless you are conservative and then they cheer Kid Rock cutting a hole in a flag and wearing it as a poncho.  stand at attention during anthem except that most days prior to this outrage people were standing but texting or standing in line for a beer...I'm trying to just laugh it off now. 

 whether you agree with them of not, they have the right.  if this was NK they would be shot or jailed.  i would rather not live under a dictatorship.  many have fought hard for these rights and i do hope we don't put a false patriotism above our rights and freedoms. 

 still a distraction and i find myself getting sucked into the argument.  that is just what Rus would have of all of us.  it is also what the iitoo would want.  distraction is the best way to take advantage of fools.  we have to fight hard to not allow ourselves to be fools. 

 finally caught a picture of one of the hundreds of rabbits that i saw driving to Kennicott.

 the Kurds voted to separate from Iraq. not sure what will happen there.  Rus seems to be involved and their bots supporting any issues that divide in any nation.  looks like zuckerberg is finally seeing what facebook may have been used for.  twitter as well.  all these social media sights are easy to use. 

 a transgender teen was brutally murdered.  tortured really. there is a nasty element in our society and it's growing.  you see it happening. blaming, attacking. 

 many times i feel powerless and a foreboding and sense of doom.  so many seem to just ignore all the signs.  it does make me think of Germany during the days of Hitler. how many probably just carried on.  it wasn't happening to them. their lives were continuing on so there was no reason for alarm.  when their alarms started to fire off inside them, it was too late. 

 this radical Christian won his run up. i think now he'll run against a Dem for a seat.  I'm just calling them Radical Christians now.  i suspect that may be what we will be up against.  seems insidious, but i suspect that is how it started in the Muslim world.  the far right started working their way into power and then poof, everyone had to obey their religious edicts.  our nation feels at risk of becoming more of a theocracy. 

 this one lane road takes you from Chitina onto the main road leading to Kennicott.  when i first got to it i thought the whole road would be like this..but it really wasn't that bad.

 Puerto Rico, which i think i have sometimes thought was Costa Rica for some reason, seems to be in pretty rough shape.  the iitoo has been focused on the football crap while these poor folks have been suffering.

 the healthcare bill again seems to be dead.  the GOP seems to be dead or dying.  i had wondered if that was the goal of the iitoo...destroying the party...it still may be.  he may be a success at this. hopefully our nation survives all this mess. 

 sure to be some good books/movies and such after this is all done.  in my heart i think we will survive this but i suspect it will go much better or less rough if the people do all they can to prevent it from getting worse.  so far i have been proud of the resistance.  those on the right who hate us liberal snowflakes may one day have to thank us.  not sure they will though. 

 hate gets in the blood. 

 long and unwinding road.

 these are at Worthington Glacier.  did a walk, shortish. i returned a few weeks later and did a longer walk with the pups. 

 the glacier has receded so much in the years since i moved north.  it's pretty scary.  this whole area was covered when i first saw it.  the walk is longer now to get to it.  the higher trail on the left went next to the glacier field. 

 so i do have much better pictures the next time i went. 

 tougher to walk with the pups. still some pulling.  especially Tusker.  he was a brat today at the store.  i was trying to just take Ivy first and he jumped over me to get out and was running loose in the parking lot for a few seconds. in the store he was so excited! he just wants to say hello to everyone.  Ivy was an angel. it is funny.  in day to day life she is the brat.  haha.  she is like those kids you hear about where the parents are beside themselves at home but their teachers are all  they are the best ever!

 Ivy in class or on the leash is pretty good.  she is so wanting to please that she just responds.  Tusker...well, his curiosity gets him every time.  short attention span

 that glacier could calve.  you still have to be cautious. especially on a sunny day I'd guess.

 the valley is opening up

 this is when we still had lupine.  i think i was waiting in a long line for construction...at this point i opted to just head back to Anchorage.

 the pipeline

 just some scenery on the way home. Matanuska Glacier is huge and you watch it for miles along this route.

 sheep mountains.  always beautiful

 lions head i think it's called...you know you are getting close to home here.

 more of the glacier. 

 i really do live in an amazing place.  sure hope i don't see war on our soil in my lifetime.  I'm a wimp.  i see what happens in war and i would really love to avoid it.  I've been pretty spoiled so far.  with this guy in office we may all get a lesson in war soon.  way too many crazy people in powerful positions right now.  our world is in a broken state right now.  sometimes it ends up getting more broken before the repairs can happen.

 the terminus of the Matanuska Glacier.

 and the river leading off of it. ready to crash i guess.  made the bed...slowly as that is how it goes with puppies

grateful for: A.  a carefree life, a safe life, a stable life  B.  the freedoms i have enjoyed throughout my life.  C.  those who will continue to fight for what is right and protect those who need help.