early morning...

 crashed last night pretty early.  woke up early. I'll probably head back to bed after this for a bit, but may as well blog....not that my to do list hasn't gotten super long this week.  need to make a master to do list today. 

 took the pups to the pool last evening.  we were the last appointment.  they were very nice and were all take your time.  the pups had a great time and look all fluffy and clean this morning.  how many more hours will that last.  looks like rain out there.  spring and mud.  will enjoy these hours of clean pups though.

 Ivy gets the most out of the pool time.  she jumps and leaps, even when she is on the ramp heading in.  why walk when you can fly.  Tusker spends more time around the edges of the pool.

 while he doesn't like baths he does love hoses.  used the spray nozzle in the kitchen the other day and you could tell he got all amp'd up thinking it was nearly hose season.  watering the lawn is always an exciting and fun process for these pups. 

 so while he didn't enjoy the bath he did enjoy playing with the nozzle and that water as i rinsed him off.  he also loved playing with the dryer air as long as it was directed at his face.  i smartly brought treats which made the bath time much better.  dogs are constantly in training mode if you bring treats along.  these guys are smart and i make them do far less than they are capable of.  i really need to remember to keep challenging them.  it was the same with Blossom.  that girl was super smart.

 it gets easy to slack off once they are doing the basics of training.  must keep it up though.  it's good for them, keeps them from getting bored and I'm always amazed at what they are capable of.

 stopped off at the pet store for dog shampoo...there is like half an aisle of product!!  it's insane.  one thing in our society is that i think life has become challenging as we just have far too many choices some times and that can be stressful.

 it was so odd when i was buying a house.  it seemed in some ways you are rushed to select a home as the market is such that houses go quickly...felt like i was taking longer in the grocery aisle to select toothpaste than in buying a  home.

 with all these choices it's just one potential failure after another.  someone always gets better product or a better deal. 

 have still found I'm a bit tired with exercise.  the pain that i thought was gut related the other day, I'm starting to think maybe it's my left ovary?  I'm due to make an appointment for a check up anyway so perhaps we can check into that.  it's not terrible, but annoying and just there.  still out there walking though.

 during the day yesterday i hit the gasline/powerline/tank trail.  no bear tracks seen.  dogs wore bells, i had spray.  we did fine.  have just felt more like i may need a nap after exercise or just to rest.  once i was in car driving i felt fine too though. 

 the rest are more fall pics from September out at Powerline...this time i did see moose.

 didn't call out sick on Friday, but ended up with an on call, thanks Gretchen.  never got called in but since it's so common for me to be called in i stayed up until nearly 4am when the risk of getting called in decreases a great deal.  when i sleep, i am out, so i always fear not hearing the call.  easier to just stay up.  watched some Big Bang episodes and read.  reading a good novel.  I'm on a reading kick at the moment.  usually lasts until i get a dud book.

 iitoo had another election rally the other day.  his comfort zone with his dutiful followers...ie cult members. some rational GOP members should attend just to see how insane his followers really can be.  perhaps wake up to what is really going on.  we are for sure living in an Emperor with no clothes time, where he surrounds himself with admirers...really just people who are ladder climbers hoping to take advantage of his need for constant admiration for their own gain.  that always happens with anyone in power or a position of celebrity.  would be tough to weed out the bull...especially if you really don't want to because you love being lavished with attention..

 supposed to rain today.  at least the wind isn't blowing down here. 

 may be a perfect day to sleep in and snuggle with the pups.  after a bath i do tend to be reticent to take them out for a walk where they will get all dirty...clean pups are such a novel and fleeting thing.  haha.

 that is one big bull.  there was a female near him...she did not seem too interested.

 soon the end results of these matings will be born.  it's nearly that time.  life gets crazy with calves being born and bears being hungry. 

 many voters make their selection based on just a few specific issues...they remain loyal it seems, no matter what else is done.  the NRA is being tied to RUS where there are Rus NRA members and money was possibly funneled through the NRA to US campaigns.  sadly, the NRA has done a great job at creating paranoia in it's members.  the anti abortion crew has also done a great job at putting fear and anger into those who oppose abortions.  there is also extremists on the other side, i know, who make the environmental catastrophe's more pronounced.  these are all the work of powerful lobby groups...too powerful

 these are the mistakes we have made. i hope we can correct them.  change the laws.  until the little guys get together it won't happen and thus far the right especially has been efficient at convincing their constituents to vote against themselves for fear of the left killing millions of babies and taking their guns. that and gerrymandering...what a mess.

 the truth is the average liberal leaning constituent has no interest in taking away the rights guns...they just want more controls, more universal controls and more responsibility.  they want common sense.  the same is true with abortions.  most on the left would like to keep the number of abortions as limited as possible.  we want other options to be available.  the extreme right fights against education regarding sex and protections and also fights against the availability of contraception...these both are the best hope of decreasing actual abortions.

 the pups did a great job watching this moose action in the fall without going nuts.

 the most bizarre thing to me is that this party has held control of the extreme right evangelicals despite their moral unraveling. truth is many of those extreme evangelicals are only Christian in name...similar to what happened with the Islamic religion...extremists took hold of the religion and altered it to suit their agenda.  many, who don't actually bother to understand their base religion, are easily convinced to believe what is preached at the pulpit. 

 also odd is how the party continues to hang on to those who are more sensible GOP members.  the GOP was once considered the fiscally responsible party...however when you look at the actual truth.  they are the ones running up the deficit.  the Dems have come in these recent years and cut the deficit. the economy in general has been strong under dems. 

 i was raised to be a Repub and i was a Repub..actually voted for Bush 1 and Bush 2 the first time.  i believed the rhetoric.  eventually it became clear to me that the rhetoric was bull.  that despite their claim to be the party of God, they were more morally bankrupt than the Dems.  I'm not saying the Dems are stellar either, but when it comes to recent history and ethics/moral/value issues, the GOP seems to be all talk and reverse in action.  i switched to a more liberal viewpoint.   i am for sure socially liberal and for conservation values. I'd rather see my tax dollars going to help fund people than kill them.  to protect the environment rather than destroy it. 

 the modern GOP is the party of the corporations and special interest groups. at least the Dem party there is a chance to reign them back in from special interests to some degree..laws need to be passed though to protect the average citizen from the corruption of our government...we need to become more active and take back our government for the good of the general citizenry.

 love the shadowing of the rack on his back below

 was just reading a little article about Yellowstone...apparently there is a 44 mile wide active volcano in that area...a caldera, is a volcano that creates a huge crater. if this one was ever to blow predictions are it would be humongous. 

 science is getting trashed by the current GOP as well.  proof is counter to their agenda so they want to create as much doubt in science as they can...it's all a liberal plot.  their people have been made to be afraid of liberals, scientists, truth even.  those people that attend those rallies are brainwashed, cult like.  not sure any thing will  bring them back from their twisted sense of truth at this point.

 can i be looking forward to fall already?  not really.  I'm ready to enjoy spring and summer.  each season here has it's beauty.  i am a big fan of the fall.  nothing like the tundra in fall.  so amazing.

 looking forward to going to Denali for the fall.  hope we hit peak while we are out there, at least in some parts. 

 a toddler in England died this week after a bitter court battle to keep the kid on life support indefinitely.  it's sad....the extremists again use these cases as a rally of life at all cost.  it's always funny to me that the same people who refuse to accept the end of life are the ones who also refuse to pay for the healthcare for the lives that are here.  in reality we do not have endless sums of healthcare dollars, in part due to their choices in political issues, to keep every person alive for months and years past reasonable outcomes. 

 at some point, though it sounds cold and callous, we do have to factor in financials.  do you spend millions keeping a child like this alive on a machines or do you spend that same amount giving basic cares or curing cancers for a large number of citizens. 

 these cases really get down to how our society views death.  sadly, we have a great fear of death in this nation.  a great lack of knowledge.  we are born, we live and we die.  that doesn't mean i am in any hurry to get to the death part, i do enjoy living on this earth.  science has made an extended life possible.  sometimes that extension is good but at times the benefits of living longer are not really beneficial to the individual.  at some point we have to balance common sense and dignity with our personal desires to have our loved ones here with us for as long as possible.   are we keeping loved ones alive for our own selfish needs and desires or is there hope at the other end of all the treatments. 

 by all means, we should give everyone as much comfort and quality of life as we can while they are here, but we shouldn't prevent their transition to the next life simply because we can't personally bear to lose them. 

 i do believe this has become a test of sorts, one many will have to answer for when they reach the pearly gates...we are challenged with the ability to keep loved ones with us vs the challenge of allowing nature to take it's course when hope of a dignified and joyful life have been dashed. science can keep you alive, kindness allows you to pass. science itself has no emotion.

 i work in the ICU's.  they have often become the places of life extension.  it pains many nurses to see patients kept alive for extended periods because their families can't come to terms with death.  in truth i doubt the patients themselves suffer directly from this indecision.  their souls may be burdened with what ever is required to straddle the two worlds, heaven and earth, we do not know.  the extended grief though is no doubt more damaging to those who can't let go though.  the damage to extended family, as they battle with courts to keep family members "alive" on vents for years.  who is it for? what does it serve?  mostly it's just sad...but it's also expensive. 

 there is still "alive" a girl from CA who the courts allowed to remain on a vent despite multiple neurologists stating she is technically brain dead with zero hope of any meaningful existence.  there she lays.  i think her bills are paid for by extremist donations...she becomes an experiment really on sciences ability to keep a body going and for how long.  that is what her "life" has amounted to at this  point.  all from an extreme inability to accept death. 

 i joked years ago that i should create a hospital filled with patients who are technically dead but who have family who refuse to let them go.  i surmised that there would one day be a need as we become more and more unrealistic about patient outcomes and more fearful of death and demand life over death at all costs. i said we could even convert an old cruise ship...just travel the world. in the hospital the term is DOV (dead on vent). it's so common that this is a known abbreviation across all hospitals...

 i remember this kite sailor flying in over us to the parking area at powerline.  the pups went nuts! i think it scared the hell out of the guy as he landed.  thought he would land and be attacked.

 well, maybe a bite to eat and then doze for  a bit.  looking pretty grey out there today.

 the to do list must get written and acted upon....

thankful for:  A.  all i have learned through nursing  B. clean dogs, so sweet  C.  the local dog pool and the joy it brings to both dog and owner