from Fairbanks/Hunter Cabin

 pups did much better walking around town than in previous trips...they are maturing into great, well behaved dogs...with occasional outbursts still.  they are dogs.  none of us are perfect, right?

 these were downtown.  loads of folks down there. worked CICU my last night. cardiac patients.  not always my favorite, sheaths and all.  i got lucky though and no sheaths.  one patient I'd had in ICU a few nights ago.  looking better.  nice to see the progress.

 my massage therapist texted me while i was at work.  she had an open position for today so i woke early and got a massage today.  great after all the driving of the past few weeks. 

 now i have some days off.  pretty determined to not just hike but get some of the kitchen stuff tore out.  did some measurements to see where i need to move outlets on the one wall for the fridge and all that. will also have to plug up the one heater vent.  liked the idea of opening one that comes out under sink area so you could have warm feet as you do the dishes.  could be good. 

 also need to get water to the new fridge so i can have ice maker...so excited for that!  move a bit more out to garage each day. 

 they had pretty flowers all over down town.  saw at work they have pulled lots of flowers to move into the winter area so it's getting time to prep for the season change.

 wrote once again to senator here as she may be a swing vote to block Kavanaugh...who knows if she will do that, but one can hope. he seems too extreme.  one must be proven to put the rule of law over ones own opinions and i don't get that he can do that. i guess over 400 hangers were left at Senator Collins office in Maine, another possible swing vote.  people really are clever.  it seems he may have been caught up in some lies under oath...not only could this impact his current attempt at the Supreme court it could also impact the position he has held.  the GOP has been withholding documents. 

 they are trying to push through their nominees as they no doubt realize that the iitoo may be limited.  they are trying to do all they can with their current moment of power.  greedy may bite them in the arse one day though. pushing your religious beliefs on a nation is not going to end well for them i believe. all i can do is make noise and write letters and such though. 

 they plotted against Obama having his due at nomination.  it was an unfair and unethical thing to do...but as long as it's in the name of their agenda ethics, morals and values are of no concern.  who are the bad guys again?  they love to pin this on the Dems though the GOP has a long history of unscrupulous behavior.  both parties do their share of shenanigans...lately, it just seems the GOP is much better at it.  they have sure done a number with gerrymandering on fair elections...but who cares if it's fair as long as you win.  many even seem to be willing to look the other way at Rus interference efforts since it helped make sure their sworn enemy, HRC did not become potus. 

 still just believe they were duped into believing she was the devil incarnate...i do not believe she is any angel but the GOP did a grand smear campaign and there is no amount of facts or lack of proof that will sway them away from their hatred.  hatred makes manipulation so much easier.  i still believe that either the GOP are the most inept investigators or HRC just hasn't done as much as they espouse.  either way, it's time for them to let go of that hatred and focus on the iitoo they have placed there.  he's their responsibility and it's long past time for them to use their power to make sure there is a check on his power. 

 senate and house need to clean house and remember how to work together again.  they have given over too much power to the position of POTUS over the last 15-20 years and it's time to reign in the powers of the potus, no matter who is elected. 

 this administration is again working to get around the rules about children being detained in immigration cases.  they still have not been able to return over 400 children they took from parents.  it's embarrassing.  walls won't prevent much of the illegal immigration.  not cost effective at all.  love how the right gives little to no credit to Obama for all he did to help the economy. when he came into office it was a right mess.  as he left it was rising.  iitoo gets to ride that and now loves to take all the credit...mean while, as usual the deficit is rising pretty rapidly due to these tax breaks for the rich. math is clearly not the strength of the GOP members in DC. 

 modern history the economy does better under the Dem's, the deficit goes down under the Dems...

 hitting Nenana on the way to Hunter Cabin. 

 loved that they had the biggest little free library.

 we stopped at a little lake right outside of Nenana so the pups could cool off. 

 Ivy is very enthusiastic.

 the siblings of Don Sheldon are battling it out.  the courts appear to have sided with her brother at the moment.  they own the outcrop of land in the Ruth Glacier Amphitheater.  a new luxury retreat was apparently just built up there near the old mountain house.

 loving the tax revenues associated with the legalization of marijuana in our state.  over 1 million for the 5th month in a row.  I've always seen alcohol do far more damage than marijuana.  if you can't stop em, tax em.  our state has always been pretty lax on marijuana.  we are a strange state really.  of course, we are a state of misfits really in many ways so i guess that makes sense.

 she jumped in the car totally dripping wet...didn't bother to even shake off a layer.  goof ball.

 zipped back to Nenana with wet dogs and slipped into the little church there.  I'd had a really enjoyable chat with a local in a shop there.  i can talk to most anyone.  everyone has interesting stories to tell.  love to just get folks talking.  you learn a lot.  we all have a lot in common despite the fact that we all can see things very differently in the world and/or come from very different perspectives and backgrounds.

 grateful for that opportunity at work as well. i meet folks i would never run into.  people like to talk and tell you their stories...most of us just never felt heard i think so you really can make a difference in someones day by actually taking the time to see them, to hear them, to validate to them that their story has value.

 pretty crazy story came out last week.  a guy in Fairbanks had retreated into solitude...so much so that he apparently had killed himself several years ago and nobody noticed. his house was near the University up there.  folks thought the place had been abandoned.  no taxes paid, the borough took over the land.  his body was found inside. at one time he was apparently pretty charismatic and social..then he retreated. that was 30 years ago.

 his taxes hadn't been paid for 4 years.  a friend that lives down here had stopped by the house when he visited Fairbanks a few times, but the place looked abandoned and nobody answered.  a welfare check  found same..they didn't try to enter as it did not appear that anyone even lived there.

 apparently he had started to hear voices years ago.  people started to avoid him at some point as he closed himself off more and more.  the whole story is pretty sad though...that you could have a dead neighbor friend sitting in their house dead for years before anyone bothered to notice.  even more disturbing as a single person i guess. we live in a time where we don't wish to be too intrusive in each others lives but we forget that we do need each other.  that we even depend on each other.  as a friend of his said, the lesson is that we should be take better care of each other.

 a large stellar sea lion decided to come into Sitka for several days.  took some coaxing to get the guy to head back to sea but i guess he eventually did. was just reading that after 4 days in the community they tranquilized him and loaded him up and moved him to a beach so he could return to the ocean

 listened to quite a few podcasts over the past weeks of driving.  one was about people/cultures who are still off the grid. they discussed some in Brazil.  how the big companies have moved deeper into the jungles and as they destroy the lands they sometimes run across these remote civilizations.  there is one group that was unfortunate to be in an area with resources the big companies wanted.  there have been some attacks to just kill off these remote folks.  of course...the big companies weren't responsible...hmm. but in one case just this one man is left.  the fight has been on to leave him be out there.  he's resorted to digging a bunch of holes i think to escape the attacks.  just one guy who is given like 40 acres or so that is supposed to be protected. when they expanded that a bit more attempts were made on his life.  he no doubt watched many others in his community slaughtered.  that is progress i guess

 the big mountain peeked out and then was out nicely for our walk the next day.

 beautiful clouds.

 other topics were voodoo, pterosaurs and even ball point pens. the one guy is called the man in the hole.  there was also one on Attila the hun, one of search and rescues....and the draft. that was interesting.

 only men have to sign up still on their eighteen birthday year i think. not looking like the draft will be used but it's there just in case.  they also mentioned that the rules, oddly, regarding transgender is that you go buy the sex on your birth certificate i think?  can't recall, just odd that there are such detailed rules. in that they spoke of conscientious objectors and various levels of this.

 pretty sure i listened to the gerrymandering one again. it's pretty interesting.  lots of miles of driving.  helps keep you awake and keeps ya safe.

 here we are heading up on the hike.

 we had some pretty outstanding views for our hike up Curry.

 love this hike...though it's not easy it's also not overly hard.  great bang for your buck. 

 not tons of water along the way and it was a fairly hot day...the dogs did find some relief and then we hiked down to the lake before heading back down to the cabin.

 fireweed is all done now,  but at that time it was still going fairly strong over much of AK.

 always a favorite.

 very behind on the newspapers. that happens when i go out of town.  recycling day is this week...time to purge trash and recycling from the house.  the to do list has been neglected a bit with summer fun wrapping up. 

 pups enjoy the long hike

 they don't seem to tire very easily

 many happy summer memories....always tough to see summer pass but fall is amazing and then winter is peaceful.

 i better get ready to crash before it gets too late.  woke early to get to massage.  I'm sure i dozed a bit during that.  then walk/errands and i did take a wee nap this evening. 

 like to get sort of flipped back to a more normal schedule

 some dog shots as we get near the top...

 thanks KR for snapping a family photo. 

grateful for:  a.  surprise massage  b. good week of work  c. happy puppies to return home to...and a sweet kitty