what is it about white guys and assault rifles....?

 when there is a terrorist attack there are calls to ban all those from Muslim majority nations...so perhaps it's time to just ban all white dudes from owning assault rifles? 

 not much is known i guess but more are dead.  this time it was a church.  we haven't really heard any rational still for the white guy in Vegas and it's not looking like we will. 

 terrorists kill for some perceived political gain, it looks like these white dudes often just kill to kill.  why is that? what is it about being a white male that predisposes these guys to blood thirst.  I'm not saying there aren't mass killings by other races or even the rare female, though that does seem really rare.  it just seems all too common that it is a white male. 

 i have heard 26 lives lost in this shooting.  a guy across the street had a rifle, he heard the shooting and came out with it.  not sure if he got a shot off that eventually killed this guy or if the guy killed himself. 

 it's a pretty depressing state that our nation is in though.  these killings happening far too frequently.  surely the answer can't be thoughts and prayers until the next and the next and the next? what if it is your child, your brother, your wife, your husband lost....will we ever get any action.  these poor souls were in a church.  seems there should be some protection being in a house of worship, but there doesn't seem to be.  we have had several shootings in churches, some of those racially motivated. 

 if these white guys are trying to prove themselves the superior race they are failing pretty miserably in my opinion.  a superior person would rise above, a superior person would not hold such values as to believe they are superior. 

 as you can see it snowed last night.  not much, I'd guess just a few inches.  enough to make the drive to the trail head pretty slippery. 

 the rest are from yesterday.  these stumphenge. 

 i drove slow, was only going a few blocks to get to the trail head and still on my regular street tires.  my car was not happy and so i went super slow to avoid an accident.  most of the cars around me on my short drive were also going the slow speed i was, but a few cars caught up and as a car zoomed past me the driver opted to hold his horn down for like 5 seconds.  there is a part of me that wishes to see the car flip out of control due to the drivers speed and jerky behaviour...i am clearly not a superior human.  a superior human would never have such thoughts. 

 had some errands i wanted to run, but opted to skip it due to the road conditions.  better save than crashed. 

 watched a dull movie, which i suspect i actually slept through part of it. 

 got the door to the little library unstuck and put a few nails in it so that the door could be opened more easily.  didn't think about winter with it.  i will for sure have to find a way to solidify the post more in the spring as well.

 while i was there i went ahead and made a small, pretty pathetic snowman. 

 my snowman making skills are pretty poor.  i did not grow up with snow so making snowmen is not something i ever did until well into my adult years.  if anyone has any mad skills and wants to teach me, come on over.  i did drip him with food coloring....clearly i did the same with Ivy Rose.

 we spread cheer on the trails today.

 admittedly, I've been anxious to put the pups on their leashes.  that will probably subside when I'm in less pain. still a big bruise on my wrist and elbow as well as the discomfort on the shoulder.  perhaps i am more of a wimp than i thought.

 despite walking over 4 miles today, the pups came home and have spent hours wrestling in the back yard. there is now a large pink spot in their main wrestling spot.  dogs go a bit nuts when there is fresh snow

 these are from that strange area where there was a thin crust of ice.  no doubt the snow today weighed this all down and it is destroyed, i was the lucky one to see it.  sometimes life lets you be lucky like that. 

 the dogs had little appreciation for this marvel. 

 woke with a sore throat, not sure if that will evolve.  took some Tylenol as i felt that body ache thing. i did just get my flu shot last week and i find that sometimes i will feel like this soon after, only to have it resolve without anything worse.

 you can see on the trunks where the ice crust broke and fell off. 

 i thought it rather cool looking. 

 i am pretty easy to amuse though.  another Monday walk tomorrow.  always fun. 

 it's fairly early so i figure I'll try to load some pictures so that i can maybe get started on the calendar in the next few nights. always so many fun photo's so it's hard to know which to choose. 

 the 14th it will be one year since i lost my sweet Blossom and then a few days later on the 18th will be the second year since i lost Rio Catalina.  we move forward from loss, but we never totally move on, even if it's a dog.  my dogs are my family up here.  they are with me all the time.  i can depend on them, they never judge me.  they don't care if I've put on a few pounds or if I'm not really dressed to impress, which is always.  they are happy to just be near me...i mean really happy.  they are always way happy when i return from being away...even if it's just been to go to the grocery.

 very grateful that i had these guys when Blossom passed.  can't imagine how difficult it would have been otherwise.  they kept me busy this year. 

 thinking the cover of the calendar will be a collection of cairns and memorials that i have made over the past year.  i still have a lot of ashes....so i will hopefully just continue to take the dogs at the bridge on more adventures.

 it's time to get Skelly ready for Thanksgiving.  that was one of the errands...trying to get inspired for idea's for a scene worthy of Skelly and crew. haha.

 Ivy cracks her way through the thin ice.  i think at first she was a bit anxious but soon she was cracking it all over. 

 the results looked cool

 more frozen ground...all covered now though.  the pups did great off leash today.  thankfully, they are pretty good off leash since on leash can be dangerous.  dang squirrels...thankfully at least many of the birds have migrated south...those robins were killing me!

 seemed a good day for black and white. 

 heard of a co-worker i had a few years back, i had not heard that he and his wife had split up. today i heard that he killed himself on Halloween.  how awful.  you just never really know what is in the hearts of those around you.  please reach out to those you may not contact often.  just a text...remind them that they matter, that they are remembered, that they aren't invisible.  it's easy to feel invisible in this world. i suspect we all feel like misfits no matter how much we appear to fit in.  we all feel awkward at times. 

 this was a pretty huge sap drain..over 1 foot really.  needed color for that.  may God be with those souls who were lost today, may he be with those who loved them and may God protect our nation that we may find a way through all of this hate and anger that seems to have taken hold.  grateful for:  A.  fresh snow and a happy pink colored dog, she makes me smile  B. diversity, our earth is an amazing place because there is such diversity...plants, animals, insects, humans, landscape.  I am constantly in awe of the grand and the small.  C.  ice cream.  it fixes everything some days.