looking back to October...

 bit of a world of ice and rain today.  got out to the dog park again, not all that exciting.  also i believe my iphone is on it's last breath.  the battery is pretty much done and refusing to charge. it's finally charged a bit. 

 these are from a drive down Turnigan Arm.  debated taking a drive today but then i opted to just head to the big craft fair downtown.  buzzed through and picked up a few gifts for the next gift box to my niece and family.  i had wanted to get a cute fleece skirt for her daughter. I'd bought it previously and she'd really liked it.  i did find the vendor and when i told her why i was purchasing it she just handed it to me.  i about burst into tears at that moment....thank you!!  there is still kindness aplenty to go around. 

 a bit of a depressed day as there was family gathering around her today and these are the days when being so far away bites...can't just hop in car and get other places easily for events such as today. i am really happy though that there was a contingency of family that do live near enough to be able to join together and lend support and love.  happy for them, just a bit bummed for myself to be unable to join them.  hopefully it buoys their spirits. 

 the more i read about the speed of this fire the more i am amazed and so very happy that they are alive.  it seems many others did not make it out.  i think of the many folks who were not capable of getting out or who may have found their way out of their homes only to discover they had no safe place to go.  they have found some burned body's but i suspect some are probably never to be found due to the heat that this fire must have produced.  one just prays that these poor souls passed from the smoke before the flames got to them. 

 many animals will have been lost as well. 

 the iitoo made his way to CA to see the places impacted.  still going on about fire fighters here should just rake more like they do in Norway and these fires wouldn't have occurred.  Norway is much further north so not nearly so dry, CA has been in a drought...global warming perhaps?  oh right, we want to believe that is all a liberal plot.  right, i forgot.  silly me. proof be dammed. 

 did a bit more painting tonight.  attempted to stain the mantel, i think it just has too much old stuff on it.  i just painted it instead.  I'll have to wait until better lighting is installed before i decide on the color really.  i also painted around the fire place.  the back corner will have to wait until the fridge moves back into the kitchen area.  I'm really happy with the grey/blue color.  still need to select other colors eventually. 

 stopped here to allow pups to swim a bit.

 this spot just looked pretty so i stopped on the road to snap photo's

 always like a train track

 started to work on a second box for my niece and her family.  will make this a bit of a Christmas box, the calendar is in and i bought some starter Alaskan themed ornaments as they will have lost all of their decorations in the fire.

 i was remembering as a kid we would always make the annual trek to a place called STATS i think it was.  it was a huge building filled with all things Christmas.  i have no idea what that place was during the rest of the year.

 big family dinners are a thing of the past in my life.  it sure was fun as a kid though.  not sure where the kitchen will be when so not sure if I'll even get the decorations out.  the place is a bit of a mess right now and will be until i can actually move back into a kitchen. 

 also strange to not be able to bake this time of year.  fall without pumpkin bread!!  so sad.

i have a full load of recycling after this weeks cabinet unpacking.  get rid of all that and then fill the can right back up and still have much more after this to go. 

 some paddle boarders take on the bore tide.

 a young man lost both his limbs to frostbite up here back in 2011...has it really been that long.  he was distraught over the suicide of a friend and had contemplated his own action of the same.  he went out running in a snowstorm. he was a runner for the University here.  he is from Kenya.  he was surrounded by two major hospitals and two Universities and yet, he became disoriented in the snowstorm and was lost for i think 3 days/nights.  he finally wandered into a hotel in the same area if i remember correctly...he lost both his feet to frostbite.

 a runner without feet...

 this month he completed his first marathon since this happened on running blades...he also became a citizen of the United States.  Congrats and welcome.  we have many citizens who are lazy and we always can use the injection of immigrants who have a zest for life and are willing to work hard. 

 it was a happy story of success. 

 loved the light on the waves...so pretty

 more pretty light. 

 it's been cloudy here.  good for painting though. 

 beautiful sunset as i drove home this night.

 pulled over a few times to enjoy the views.

 still watching a cooking show...baking in Britain.  does make me want to cook/bake though.  adding to my mini depression this week. 

 despite much that is bad there are many who are good and kind people.  i just hope our nation can get back to that which is positive about our nation.  we are currently a joke on the world stage.  this iitoo is a complete embarrassment of a "leader".  it's sad, more sad how many are willing to just look the other way or accept his horrific behavior.  decency is lost, shame is lost...our society needs to find these or we will fail as a society.  i try to focus on the kindness out there.  i think my niece has done an amazing job keeping this all in perspective.  she has seen the kindness first hand and told me she has a renewed faith in people. it is out there...just can't expect much from this current administration. 

 so many believed the lies...continue to believe the lies.  lies about Obama, lies about the Clintons....I'm not saying the Clintons are great folks, but i do believe much of these conspiracy theories have been over blown.  once the lies were out there and believed it is next to impossible to rewind...he knows that and he uses it to his advantage. many still believe the birther lies about Obama...they made him out to be evil because they had an agenda and they needed him to be seen as evil to get their agenda filled. 

 Obama helped the economy when it seemed doomed.  the iitoo came in with a booming economy and then took credit for it.  he takes credit for anything good and blames others for anything that reflects poorly. 

 these are out at Powerline Pass.

 the daisies always stay in blood much longer than anything else it seems.

 a few moose were seen collecting for the annual rut.

 i have been up late this week.  it's how i roll i guess. 

 haven't seen any moose this week...though i haven't really been out there looking. they are all over really.  i haven't strayed too far from the house. 

 have debated a run to the beach, but the tides haven't been cooperating.  debated a run to Seward but the weather wasn't cooperating. 

 100 years since the end of WWI.  seems like way more than 100 years. but a lot has changed since i came to this world over 50 years ago as well.  things move quickly and slowly. fast enough that it's easy for the generations that follow to forget the past...which means it becomes easier to repeat the mistakes of the past.  you don't see the signs of doom....you have no reference.  even if relatives died in past conflicts or lived and held wisdom in regards to those conflicts there is enough distance between today's generations and those of past conflicts that most is lost in the years. 

 nationalism is on the rise.  our iitoo has embraced Nationalism and has encouraged his cult followers to do the same, which i have no doubt they will.  14 million killed in WWI, 9 million soldiers.  to embrace nationalism is to risk another great loss of life. 

 so much that can happen in a society if we aren't watchful.  evil elements will always try to get what they can.  power and money are powerful motivation to some, who will stop at nothing to obtain and maintain their power and finances...it's an old scenario that plays out over and over.  thousands of years of it.  it is the downfall of nearly every society eventually.  greed, hatred are easily used to manipulate citizens into actions they would never have taken but they get crazed on the power and money and all that it gives them. 

 we just went past the bridge this day.  too many moose on the upper area of the trail.  2 dogs and moose, not a great combo

 the dogs happily chased the tennis ball though.

 guess i better try to get to bed before 3 am....

 hoping there is some sun out there tomorrow, hoping my handyman can return next week for some more cabinet work...hoping i can bake by  Christmas??  maybe??  hoping my family had a great time together, surrounded by love and support. 

 love watching the dogs run wild.  such joy

 love this one below of Ivy Rose....perfect blur of action. 

thankful for:  A.  finding the perfect paint color  B.  happy running dogs C.  family, who rise and reach out to each other when needed.