more from Hatchers!

 my stretch is complete.  debating a trip to homer Mon-Tues.  supposed to rain all week here.

 i for sure have things to do around the house.  need to get the passport photo and get that sent off as it expires soon. guess we are needing our actual passports to fly out of AK of late? 

 the camera flipped to my black and white settings.

 attempting yoga on a beaver dam.  the pups were not overly helpful with this task

 was just hearing that a few folks thought they would wade into the waters in Katmai to get closer to the feasting grizzly bears for some selfies.  total idiots.  even more stupid as they waded right into the explore.org camera field of view...seen by thousands and on film.  hope it's a decent fine. it's never enough. stuff people do to animals never seems to merit enough of a punishment.  if only folks realized that people who do crap to wildlife and house pets are far more likely to become violent towards other humans. 

 apparently some other jerks, a father and son, shot a mother bear and then went killed all the cubs...not sure what the motivation for that was.  passing along great values though.

 ended  up getting to go home a few hours early this morning, which is always a nice little treat.  doesn't happen very often though so i really enjoy it when it does.  i was marked to go to ICU but when i got there they told me my patient had just passed away so instead they sent me off to the ER. mixture of ER patients, holds and giving breaks. 

 i was in the Er the night before as well. doing holds.  it can be a cluster if the day charge doesn't have their crap together.  giving me a list of the patients they decide they want me to take after I've already taken other reports is less than helpful. the charge that was on though is super cool and helpful so we just shook our heads and figured it out.

 ended up doing two walks with the pups. i was enjoying the start of mushroom season so i headed for a loop in  N. Bivouac and then did another loop at Campbell Airstrip. will look at those photo's soon.

 other news tonight...some guy stole a Horizon Air plane in Seattle, took it for a flight and then crashed it.  they believe it was just the one person on board, probable suicide? thankfully, nobody on the ground was injured or killed.

 the crew was able to make another visit to the Denali crash site. this time they were able to be there for an hour i believe.  i guess still dangling. it was determined they will not attempt to extricate the victims or the plane.  just too dangerous.  looking at the additional photo's they posted of the plane in general, that does seem like a good plan. 

 no doubt they took many more photo's of the area along with the victims in order to confirm their identification.  not sure if they try to get possessions from around the site to return to family especially since the bodies will remain on the mountain. 

 no point risking the lives of others in order to retrieve bodies.  always sad.  of course, that area is beautiful beyond belief, i guess there are much worse final resting places.  the plane is partially in the crevasse.  it broke in half.  i do keep thinking of the K2 co-workers who spoke to the pilot via sat phone twice right after the crash before there were no more calls.  that just would be heartbreaking.  just nothing you can do.

 I've been up there twice.  once to stay for a few nights.  my niece and her friend went up once as well.  my brother passed on the flight as he is not keen on small planes like this...I'm guessing the news of this flights demise will no doubt lead him to believe his choice was wise.

 many flights do that trek daily in the summer. not sure what happened during this flight, on this day.  not sure any of these little planes are outfitted with any sort of "black box" to try to understand. 

 the plane may end up falling down the mountain more or falling deeper into the crevasse.  more likely from the reading it seems is the plane will slide off the hanging glacier to the larger glacier below, some 3500 feet below. 

 Thunder Mountain is located about 14 miles from Denali summit.  they were able to locate the pilot inside the wreckage as well so all are accounted for.

 the report says there have been 126 total fatalities on Denali...this includes both climbing and flying.  this plane was a beaver.  a Cessna was lost back in '97 and never recovered and '84 was a fatal crash before the Cessna.

 these are up in Hatchers pass, off the trail but I'm wandering around the area before i headed back to Anchorage.

 was listening to an interview with Evan McMullin...he ran for POTUS in 2016.  not happy with the Trump pick.  still not a fan.  they were all talking about how some GOP members are starting to encourage the Republicans to vote for Dems in the midterms in order to attempt to get the party control back from the trumpians who have taken it over. Evan does tend to seem pretty rational, moderate, i guess. 

 he was speaking about when the Dems were embracing the civil rights activists the GOP began to work on getting the votes of the more racist southerners.  that has been accelerated with this administration.  miller is a nut job and full on white nationalists.  crazy that these people are in a position of power in our nation right now. be careful who you lie in bed with...you may get more than you bargained for. 

 sadly, they may not have enough votes to win as many elections without pandering to the racist element of their party.  i just want their ilk put back in the closet where they belong.  their hate and fear mongering should not be welcome in either party...but here we are.

 both GOP and Dem senators are reporting that Rus has already placed malware in computers in Florida at least and they may be able to cause havoc.  we have not done much to prevent further intrusion into our elections over the last few years.  for sure more should have been done in the years as computers grew.  i know some Presidents have started the process, albeit not at the level that is needed.  this current iitoo continues to barely call out Rus on their meddling. 

 more folks around this iitoo are getting caught in fraud and schemes and you name it.  the swamp is turning out to exist quite squarely in the GOP.  greed is always so strange to me.  i just can't fathom how much money one person needs.  why must they have more and more and more?  it's crazy...with all these super wealthy, you just have to wonder.  how many yachts does one family need? how many houses scattered across the globe, how many cars, shoes, jewels,ties...it's just nuts.

 the more they get the more they want.  wealth just gets so complicating i think.  buying more just begets needing to spend more.  needing to look the part.  someone was saying Johnny Depp was "broke"....they always say these actors and sports figures and such are broke, but they always seem to continue to live their lavish life styles.  it never seems to mean they are actually broke.  cash poor i guess.  they just file bankruptcy and move on their merry way.  the iitoo did that over and over again...and yet since he plays the part of being wealthy people believe that must mean he must be smart and wise with money since he's still living as he does.

 so much is a smoke screen in life.  social media has made it even easier to fake your success and your happiness. 

 i recall someone mentioning all his bankruptcies before the election and surmising that the fact that he'd had all those bankruptcies somehow meant that he had become wiser because of it.  this is what happens when shame is removed from society.  we need shame back.  people used to have shame.  filing a bankruptcy was a thing of shame.  of course, now the vast majority of regular folks who file bankruptcy do so because of medical bills. 

 a sure sign we have failed.  we are failing all over the place.  our schools are failing.  our health care is failing...but we do have a great military.  we've opted to cater to our fear and our need to be the greatest military nation on earth over basic care for our citizens.  as i write that i realize that this is oddly similar to what happens in dictatorships.  NK for example...the regular people work hard and have less and less to show for it as the money goes to strengthen the military and to pay for the lavish life styles of those in power.

 perhaps, many hope to become members of the ultra rich so they choose to protect the rich and reward the rich in the crazy hope that they will one day be one of them.  it rarely works that way though. 

 stopped on the road near Independence Mine as there were some super pretty flowers out there.

 why can't we be happy with what we have?  i look at the life i have and the life my dogs have and i know that we have it much better than many on earth.  at least as far as stuff goes.  we have a warm home, running water and electricity.  i have plenty of food.  still when you are around those with much, much less you will often observe that having less turns out to be not so bad in many ways.  having less leaves you more free to enjoy each other. 

 it is true, the more you have, the more responsibility and then it takes time and adds stress.

 when i was house shopping i was sure i had to have a house with several acres.  that still sounds great in many ways, but the reality is, i would then be having to spend more and more of my time and energy caring it.  the more stuff you have the more you have to do to protect the stuff it seems.your life can become more about the stuff. 

 so many of these folks with all this crap just get caught in a loop of buying more and then needing and wanting more.

 social media is bad in that i suspect it can make ones life seem dull. it can make you feel you are a failure, that you are less than.

 the climate in our nation is so negative.   was talking with a young co-worker last night.  we always have fun working together.  she just bought a cabin out in Sutton...she has the basics that she needs but she will be off the grid on her days off...as in no Internet, no TV.  it is tempting and i may indeed do that one of these days.  maybe when i retire.  I'd rather be out there and die than die in an ICU after being on machines for months. 

 i did really love the simple life style that i had in Ketchikan...who knows, perhaps one of these days I'll turn back to that quiet life.

 i was for sure inclined to  do the things i don't always get around to.  writing, the music...

 it's never a bad time to get off the wheel we have all put ourselves on.

 thankfully, the dogs and the cameras do tend to get me off the wheel most days.

 looking for and enjoying all the details of this earth brings me great peace.  God created this earth with an abundance of detailed beauty.  flowers of so many colors and shapes...why?  it is always just proof to me that this should all be protected.  used for our benefit, but only in moderation.  it's why i feel we must battle those who are greedy and try to take all this beauty and turn it into cash for themselves.  they care less about these flowers or the mushrooms or the animals great and small. 

 wandered my way back to Anchorage this day. i often will just take routes I've never taken before, see what is down this street or that street.  explore. 

 so these are a few from Palmer.

 started to empty out the cupboards a bit. will be a great time to pare down what i have and what i can give away.  got a bite on the drums but haven't heard back from them. more interested in getting rid of the fridge and the old window at this moment.

 love the markings on this little cow.

 they look like they have a pretty decent life here.

 take the time to enjoy all the gifts we have been given. 

 take the time to remember that this earth was created with an abundance of variety for a reason...protect it.  get out in nature...it's the best way to shake off all the stress of day to day life and refill your soul. at least that is how it works for me.

 just flowers on the side of the road

 guess i better crash for the night. .

thankful for: A.  down time B. getting off work a few hours early last night C. fun co-workers who inspire me and are kind. all is not lost. hope is eternal. love conquers all and good will win over evil..it just may take longer than you expect. the darkness will become light again...