made it through the 13 hours...

 woke up early enough to go early vote...so that is done.  then i took the dogs to Kincaid for a loop off the Jodphur Trails out to the dunes.  always a fun one.  after that i headed into the park to use the chalet facilities and the cross country ski association was having an event that i then crashed.  they got my membership fees so it wasn't a loss for them really. on the way out i saw a few pairs of mama moose with their wee ones. this little one was sure cute.  more of these tomorrow probably.

 this moose was kneeling at the parking garage i was trying to get to the other morning.  this is not an uncommon site around town.  the moose all all over the place.

 Dan has been in this week getting the sheet rock back up and finishing with prep of the electric. he closed off that last bit of sheet rock on the right part of ceiling last night after removing all stove vent and placing a new one. so now just mudding the sheet rock, finishing off the ceiling and painting...which i suppose i will do the painting anyway...perhaps some of the mudding as well. he will hopefully be back over the next two days.  still  need to close off the old heater vent and put in a new one for under the sink....then hopefully we are looking at upper cabinets soon...

 above was my obviously coveted early voter sticker, but i got the cool raven below.  my friend got the walrus so that is her photo, thanks G!!  so lucky!! i did like my raven though as well.

 i must admit i felt quite emotional waiting in line to vote today.  there was a line, which felt great.  there were several who had clearly come straight from their religious services from the morning.  not sure why it made me feel so emotional but i really had to keep myself from crying. i was tearing up....was it lack of sleep?  i was in line with many African Americans from the church service.  one girl who had already voted was taking photo's of those who came out by the vote here signs.  there were little kids and families...i don't know.  it just felt great to see so many others out and excited to vote.  i do hope for some good things...

 good to at least feel some hope after these past 2 years of chaos. 

 these are from a few walks out Campbell Airstrip and North Bivouac.  nice icicle action, light always  amazing in the winter. 

 the texting tree went out today as well as the facebook brigade...the Northern lights were out early this evening.  i keep popping out to see if they return.  the numbers look good.  there are some oranges and reds in the map on my app.  i even messaged my old friend from CA, DB.  she now lives in Idaho and they have some land, hoping to see some lights...it looks like it may be seen there tonight.  good numbers...if her weather cooperates.  we message from time to time. 

 she was my best church mate back in those days...we did several backpacking trips together and camp was always a highlight for us.  always love those friends who, even if you don't see hear from them often, when you do, it's like no time has passed...and she's raised 4 daughters...so time has passed.  as i drove home tonight i heard the song, "another one bites the dust".  i seem to recall singing this with her on a backpacking trek.

 a church camping program was a favorite of mine and i stayed active in planning girls camp and the teen backpacking trips for years after i left the actual church. 

 i was super shocked to see that even just 24 hours changed the ice formation so much.  crazy fast how this season changed...it's the same in spring though.  one day all is brown and then suddenly all the trees talk and decide to go green on the same day.  i love, love, love living with seasons.

 I'm charging batteries and i had to locate my tripod.  so no aurora pictures so far tonight. i just watched them from the back yard. I'm still popping in and out to see if they have returned.  they are predictably unpredictable.

 i worked ER and then i worked IMCU last night.  ER was steady but not bad.  there were tons of holds but i have a reputation..when I'm there people seem to miraculously get rooms upstairs so we were down quite a lot by morning.  there seemed to be a lot of screaming...so some bad drug reactions i think.  addiction is a terrible thing.  always just sad to see such young lives lost to drugs.  it just takes some of them....it doesn't really seem to even matter how good or bad their childhood was....just some folks have that in them maybe or meet the wrong folks or who knows....still just sad. 

 got the sweetest note with a donation from  family of a patient i cared for.  we had gotten talking and the walrus had come up.  after a few rougher nights with more difficult patients it does do your heart good to read a positive note.  i know many have appreciated what i have done for them, but you rarely hear from anyone.  they feel like crap, as they say, they remember your kindness but they rarely remember you. when they leave they want to just put it all behind them I'd guess.

 the batteries are charged now anyway.  I'm never prepared...guess i would not make a good scout!!

 the pups dropped the tennis ball into the frost...funny shot i thought.

 took the macro out the other day...the battery was low then, but i did not bother charging all the low batteries in the cameras.  thankfully, my camera got through today anyway.

 the tiny creek on the tank trail.  looks like it had a pretty decent overflow. we will no doubt see how that is going tomorrow on the Monday walk.

 hate watching any of these news shows near elections..all the poll talks.  drives me nuts.  i honestly think if anyone is polled they should totally make up stuff.  i personally think the poll need to be taken out of the election equation.  i also think they should not make any predictions or give any results until all the votes have been allowed to be cast across the US...and that includes AK and Hawaii...let us all vote in peace. it alters outcomes and turnout when the news reports election results prior to voter completion. 

 there is irresponsible news and i wish people would say that over the "fake news" line that the iitoo likes to push and his followers have embraced repeating. 

 i also have hope that the big money from corporations and special interest groups get limited. I'd also like to see limits on how long people can campaign.  we get election season fatigue when it just never stops.  as soon as the hub of this vote is up then we will suddenly be thrust into the 2020 POTUS election...people need to work in these jobs and not be so distracted with trying to get re-elected. the current iitoo signed up to run 2020 on his inauguration day and has been collecting money and having rallies since.  it allows him to collect money, it allows him to only speak to his base....

 although the more he is going from rally to rally talking crazy the less time i feel he actually has to do crazy...at least that is what i tell myself.  so I'm fine in some ways with the time suck aspect of his golfing, rallies and tweeting....it distracts him from doing crazy if he's being crazy.

 hoping this R doesn't get in to being our Governor.  just read a commentary by a Dem politician of the past i think.  the R's have put out an ad saying this Dem supports him...he's asked them to remove the ad but they refuse.  he's tossed his support at the Dem candidate.  he felt the need to write a commentary as the R has refused to take down the ad so he needed to set the record straight.  he pointed out all the times the R voted against things that he now acts like he's always been supportive of.  lying is an art for for the R now. i know, all politicians are known to lie...but the current R party goes way beyond the norm in lying....

 things are tight with the I running against our long standing R Rep...he's an arse and has been for years, but he gets re-elected with minimal effort.  we shall see how that goes.  doubt he would take losing well. it's one thing to be outspoken. I'm all for that.  he's just an arrogant dick at this point though.

 I'll probably look outside once more before crashing.  not enough sleep last night.  gotta get that dang floor completed.  he suggested maybe a little soak with water to help lift that last bit.  so close.

 stopped by the Campbell Creek coastal refuge after our walk.  it was sunset...well a bit past but still pretty.

 love Tusker's snow beards that he builds up on the trails.  so cute.

 they've been doing really well with the remodel. D said i didn't need to lock them up with me when i slept, they are not a bother to him at all.  so no chasing of cats under the bed as i tried to sleep the other day....

 they impressed a few out on the trails today by doing their stay bit while others hiked, ran or biked past us.

 there is a lot of red coming our way though as far as the aurora forecast is going....just a little dancing around right now when i looked out there.  i really should get in the car and do some chasing, but i suspect i won't. 

 took Rovers run the other day...in the distance you can see the big tree the bear dens up in.  you can see the opening into the den.

 that is a big hole in the tree trunk.  you would think they would get lots of snow falling in on them all winter.

 this is a longer shot. you can see the tree in the distance.   that is how close it runs to the trail...it's much closer to the road.

 always like how someone dressed up this bear on the signage.  hehe.

 these are from the Rovers Run with the cut off to the Homestead trail.  always pretty back there.  then i headed back across the little creek and down the airstrip.

 always enjoy checking out all the ice formations.  i never can quite capture it all.  my photography skills are limited and rather than do the work needed to improve i tend to leave that to others and enjoy the walks more. for me it's a balance between the walking, the dog entertainment and then photography.

 it seems to work for me so far.

 liked this one.  the light is just fun to work with.

 ran into one of the docs the other day when i was in the ER.  I've worked with him for years.  he always loves to see what i am shooting and he asked if i had the new calendar out yet...i had actually tossed one in for him as i figured I'd  run into him at some point and he always wants a calendar.  he buys a calendar every year.  always great to have that support from people.  he's had photography of his in local art shows so i figure that is a big compliment that he always shows interest in my photo's.

 lights are dancing around out there.  not too bright yet, but all across the sky.  the dogs are seeming curious why i keep getting up and going outside. i always have to be careful wandering around in a dark house.  Tusker is easy to trip over. 

 Ivy with a following light from the Bridge dogs....at least that is always what we say....the dogs from the past must have been with us out there. 

 not that these guys noticed anything odd out there.  they are pretty oblivious to anything other than the tennis balls.

 always a great view out there....

 ice at the creek before we head down towards the airstrip again. 

 I'll have to sit down and do the bill pay thing tomorrow.  I'm feeling a crash soon....all the best to the aurora chasers out there.  should be some great shots on the internet tomorrow.  great reflections as the lakes are not totally frozen over nor are they coated in snow.  there are some great aurora photographers up here so it's always fun what they all come up with on these nights.

 my camera is set up and charged so if i wake up i may head out and see what is happening. I'm just not that great at the night shots and often i just prefer to watch the lights...it's always a treat to see.

 if you are awake tonight, look outside...you may get a treat. 

 i have done my civic duty...i hope my fellow citizens are choosing well. 

thankful for:  ice and lights, aurora text chains so i catch a few lights...we had the same in Ketchikan but it was for whales and it was a call chain as we didn't text yet.  surviving the long night mostly unscathed, though i was a bit irritated at the start of the shift...since i was originally in PCU and after I'd prepped for report they moved me...show up on time to work people.  also thankful for my sweet walking companions...