Chinook Blues....

 woke to pretty serious blowing winds.  cancelled Monday walk.  did enjoy the sunrise over the mountains from my lazy state in bed.  not a bad view i think.

 i believe i promptly fell asleep after this.

 you can see the shine of ice which is my road.  when i did get out on the roads they really were not all that bad.  the side roads are always worse though.  my blizzacks seem to be taking care of me so far.

 eventually, i roused from bed and took the pups to the dog park.  it's just too easy for me to go there.

 the rest of the pics are from various hikes and such in September. liked the little bits of red...this was at the dog park as well.

 excited for my massage again tomorrow.  after work my muscles up and down the arm where the pups took me for a ride by my shoulder are still a bit worked up.  range of motion much improved as is pain...but there are still certain angles and such that are tweaked. I'm sure there were some strained muscles/ligaments.

 with all this ice around town i have not been overly enthusiastic to work the leashes outside.  we have done leash training individually in several shops which seems to go pretty well.  Ivy Rose does amazingly. Tusker...well, he still needs some work.  he just is always focused on everything but me...whereas Ivy Rose is all about me.  tonight i was all over Cabella's with Ivy and i could do whatever without much concern for her...Tusker tried to leap on the first few mannequins that we saw. took a bit longer to get him to settle in to walking around the store.

 for as crazy as Ivy can be at times, she is the mellowest dog in her class, which was just a short class and is over now.  her calmness has been very helpful to other dogs in class which act out. she would not be like this had i not done all the training with her.  it is amazing how much of a difference you make in your dog with training.  Blossom was the first dog i had done actual classes with.  i can't tell you what a source of pride and accomplishment to have well behaved dogs. i know we are still learning but every time i put these two in a hold up/stay while people bike/walk/ski past us...i have a little swelling of pride.  dogs are a joy to have when they are behaved.

 we aren't at Blossoms level yet...but that took time as well. you also just have to get them the exercise they need to blow off extra energy. most of the issues people have with dogs are because they fail to exercise them. training is a big drain on the pups. 

 I'm guessing from all I've read it's the same with kids.  drain the energy makes life much more pleasant...and I'm sure well behaved kids is also a source of pride.  as in all in life.  you can't expect perfection all the time and I've always been happy with the steps that show improvement.  Ivy went a few days this week without jumping at all and her jumping does seem to have decreased a great deal.

 i can tell there are times she really, really wants to jump and then i can see her opt to not do it...i give her abundant praise when that happens.

 some of these are from a drive to Seward...it was so beautiful out that day. 

 i also took the time to get out in the yard and pick up dog poop. was able to collect some...the more i can keep up the better the real spring will be.

 Tusker is dreaming away behind me.

 as i was perusing the yahoo headlines they had one little article from a Utah paper about bishops interviews.  reminded me of one strange interview at a student ward in Utah when i went to Utah State University.  in order to go to the temple for baptisms for the dead you have to have some interviews.  I'd had them a few times before...but this one in Utah made me very uncomfortable.  i believe the guy went way off script.  I've never been a Bishop obviously but he was asking very specific questions about my sexuality...i was a virgin and very innocent really.  these were questions involving less than usual sexual practices...i will leave it at that..but pretty much the stuff that comes to your mind...yes, the guy asked about it.  i was very uncomfortable and embarrassed to even hear these kind of questions. 

 anyway...lovely memory and that was the last time i volunteered for that task.

 the wind was really howling this morning.  it woke me up actually. 

 i peeked out and saw the door open on the little free library. so i had to cleat up and head out there to batten down the hatches and save the trash can. 

 after trash pick up trashcans went flying all over the place.  i cleated up again to collect my trashcan.  had to giggle tonight as on my nextdoor feeds there were folks looking for lost trashcans all over the east side of Anchorage...and someone had lost the turtle topper to their turtle shaped sand box. 

 saw a blip of an interview of a poor man from Alabama.  he was holding a sign...a picture of his daughter i think too.  it was so sad, his daughter had committed suicide as a young woman.  she was gay.  it sounded like he had said some unkind things to her that he clearly regrets and now he wanted to put in his two cents about Roy Moore. 

 reminded me of a patient i had once.  he had not come to this realization yet but he seemed to not understand why his daughter would not contact him.  in all ways he spoke of how proud he was of her, but then said she had brought home her female partner and he told me that he was a Christian and he let her know that her being gay was an abomination and was a perversion.  of course, i said nothing to him as i was his nurse...i was not in a position to express my opinion. i just thought it was sad.  that he could say the things he said to his daughter. 

 i still feel being Christian really means being accepting and kind to all.  i fail all the time, i pray as i drive to work that i will be patient and not judge patients from various walks of life....it can be tough though when you are dealing with drug addicts and psych patients and alcoholics...they can really wear you down.  it does always seem clear to me that God wanted us all to not judge as individuals. yes, as a society we need to set up laws that protect us from those that steal and murder, and rape...any number of things. 

 as individuals we should allow people to live their lives...if those lives are not harming others, so be it.  if you believe that God will judge these folks harshly that live lives different than you believe they should...well, you must just let it go and leave that in the hands of God.  if this is your daughter or your son or your friend or family...you give love and acceptance. it's not complicated.  the laws of the land should strive for fairness and kindness.

 every so often i see clips from this one local judge.  can't recall where he is, but he is super nice.  he looks at each case and the circumstances surrounding the case in front of him and rules with kindness and understanding.  it's really amazing.

 colors were just so amazing this day i drove.

 then there were these beautiful swans...i did post the swan pics already

 it always feels like I'm wasting the summer away, not getting out and doing anything, but then i look back the the pictures and i realize that i did get out and do things...even if there were some lazy days between.

 i nearly always walk so that gets me out.  always something to see out there.  well maybe not all that much today...but still it was a beautiful sunrise. 

 God gifted us with this beautiful earth so we could fill and refill our souls each and every day. 

 i am ready for some fresh snow though.  i haven't been sledding yet....that is always fun!!

 hey handsome. 

 the rest are from a few nights out at Byers Lake public use cabin. 

 of course, views of the big mountain.

 LM is talking about hitting Wonder Lake. i haven't been out there yet...so I'm game.  it would be a no dog trek though.

 that is usually why i don't get to some stuff.  the no dog thing

 i tend to enjoy hanging out with the canine family members. 

 views from the pit

 libs cooking breakfast i think.

 sunset

 nice setting and relaxing as always...it's almost time to start planning summers adventures. 

 cabins, Iceland perhaps...just gotta do it i guess.  friends want to go to Kaktovik in the fall and see polar bears.  those are both kind of expensive treks...

thankful for:  A.  adventures, new and old  B. freedom to come and go, sleep in  C.  snow...