another mushroom walk but these are flowers from July..

 these pretty red ones are in a ditch as i headed down from Glen Alps one day.  they looked pretty so i stopped.

 these are from a slow drive back from Hatchers one day.  this is a bridge.  knik i think

 looking pretty so i stopped. 

 still moving things around in the house.  best to not go too nuts since I'll  be having a pet sitter. I'll have to text her and confirm that this is still all set up.  always scared about that. 

 the window is gone from the back yard.  i was getting a lot of messages once i made it free. i may just do that with the old fridge just to get rid of it as well. people do like free stuff.

 want to do some calculations for tile and maybe just get that on order here soon. called to check on the cabinets. they are on a barge somewhere.  hopefully, they arrive safely and won't fall off. 

 this old bridge is now just for walking.  lots of graffiti. 

 did some wandering in N Bivuoac today looking for mushrooms.  found loads of them.  always fun. not sure why i get so obsessed with them every year...they are super cool though.  there was a group collecting mushrooms and a family collecting berries.

 nice to see folks out on the trails and great to live in a place where people can collect so much to eat in the environment.

 met some friends at the bear tooth for a charity dog short film festival.  must say i was not that impressed with their selection...there are so many cool dog clips out there.  a few were good and left you wishing those were longer.  would rather see a few longer ones than several short, so so ones, but it went to charity and there were dogs on the screen so I'm not really disappointed. 

the rest of these are from a hike with friends a ways out powerline pass.  haven't done as many of the really big hikes this year.  still getting out there and enjoying what i can.  the pups are just happy to be out there.  they are getting easier and easier to work with.  that first year or so with two was quite a whirlwind.  nice to see them settling in and always great to feel like all the hard work of training is going to pay off. 

 these dogs really do steal your heart. I've gotten pretty attached to all the dogs that have shared my life.  i know many who feel the same way.  they are family, they are the constants in my life.  they don't judge me, they don't think the stuff i say is stupid, they don't believe my views are idiotic.  they just adore me.  they adore me more when i throw their tennis balls for them. they also don't care if i have a little fat on my body or that i don't dress fashionably. 

 i know my life would have been much less happy without the dogs I've had over the years. 

 must say a word about the Catholic priests.  first off, one brother suggested if they were allowed to marry and have sex with wives they would be less prone to pedophilia.  i must say i disagree.  they do have outlets. if they can sneak around and molest small children they could also sneak around and have sex with women. they can also masturbate to satisfy their sexual appetites.  the internet has all sorts of options.   having a wife and those relations is in no way a deterrent to pedophilia.  if some one has tendencies towards this getting married will not prevent or change those tendencies.

 there are plenty of pedophiles out there who are married, same with rapists.  the word is this is less about sex itself and more about power. 

 the next rationale to that would be that if a man were married and his wife was not satisfying his sexual needs then he may resort to going after children?  it's just not how it goes. 

 i suspect many who have felt these tendencies in themselves may have opted to join the priesthood.  firstly as some way to stay in on the good side with God by giving over their lives to the church.  they may have also just hoped it would be a place that would keep them safe from their urges.  sadly, the Catholic system has not done a great job preventing these acts, dealing with them openly when they happened, or training/punishing those who gave in to their urges. like all else, there are people who are married, not married, gay, straight, all different colors and socioeconomic statuses, who will give in to such urges. no specific group is completely immune to having perverts among them. 

 so often those who oppose gays do so as they believe, quite falsely, that there is an abundance of sexual deviants compared to other segments of the population. there are plenty of sexual deviants hiding in all sorts of places.  the catholics just got caught. 

 as for parenting.  gays and straights and all sorts of other combinations can and do raise kids.  it takes commitment and love from what I've seen.  i have worked in peds....all families are not cookie cutters and often families are created.  my dogs and my network of friends are my family in Alaska.  i am grateful to all of the friends who have become family.  it's a support, one many just do not feel they get from their blood relatives.  many kids were raised with parents who had drug and alcohol addictions. 

 our nation has a crap load of kids who could use loving homes and be given a chance.  not every heterosexual couple has opted to go that route.  that is fine, but perhaps we need to expand our idea of what family is in order to get all these kids into stable homes where they can have a better chance of reaching their potential.

 our nation is so stubborn right now. so many who put ideals over reality.  it just seems to me that if we can help each other along our nation will all rise up together.  the basics should be met for all children in our nation for the good of our nation.  health care, housing, food, education, clean water, clean air.  we have money...we just need to prioritize for citizens over corporations.

 we should be encouraging and rewarding loving families who adopt and take in the kids who are getting left behind.

 love these little purple flowers below.  so pretty.

 McCain passed away today.  yesterday they said they were stopping treatment for his cancer and today he passed on.  we didn't always agree politically, but i always respected him.  liked that he spoke out often, that he wasn't afraid to be the squeaky wheel. 

 i read a lot in my teens and twenties about the Vietnam War and the POW's.  i read about McCain and how difficult it was for all of them over there.  he was told he'd be allowed to leave, but he knew it was for propaganda and he said no.  this caused even more beatings. 

 i feel badly that his last years were marred by this iitoo and the disrespect,  he and his most loyal followers, blasted McCain with.  funny that the iitoo tweets a little blip in which he used the word respect even though he never said a good word about him.  a man who can say McCain wasn't a hero because he got caught.  what an arse...

 i guess he is not invited to this funeral, like the Barbara Bush funeral.  not that he would attend anyway.  it is clear he lacks empathy and sympathy for anyone but himself.

 sad that he passes with this potus in place, seeing this mans lack of knowledge and interest in defending the constitution. he really is a low. 

 little flowers all over on the trail, now replaced with tiny mushrooms.

 always fun seeing all that nature has to share with us.  we are really blessed to live with such amazing diversity. 

 it's proof each day of Gods love for our planet. 

 i had better crash. tired today.  not sure why. slept good.  still catching up i suppose.

 enjoying a rare ray of sunshine...

 and then it really started to rain.  haha.

 pups on a rock.

 pretty cute and super sweet.  do miss my girl Blossom.  sometimes you just have that perfect dog for you in life.  these guys are pretty close to perfect too.  i think it was the combo of Rio and Blossom too.  Blossom just missed her girl Rio.  seeing a short video of a woman who adopted an older dog....always makes me sad to think that i missed the aging years with Blossom...but it was her time.  maybe she just didn't want to get old. 

 these two have filled that hole she left and they have gone above and beyond in their duty to give me peace and happiness.  so happy i got the two of them.  they really are super sweet together. so cute to watch them taking turns with the tennis ball.  cracks me up. 

 some lichens

 more flowers...the flower part of the year is winding down.  you just try to catch different things in different places each year.  it's all pretty fabulous though.  happy to have health to enjoy it all still.

 better go crash.  lots to do tomorrow...and i have a time crunch so i will actually have to do it all. 

thankful for:  A.  opportunities B.  friends C.  dogs