new word for me...pluviophile....

 it was in the slang dictionary i think..or something similar. it means to love the rain.  i was so happy the other day when i woke up to it raining outside.  today was cloudy but pretty.  i headed down to the beach at Kincaid.  i have been debating a run down to Homer...still pondering it but even though i say i love rain, i haven't been too keen to drive down to Homer in the rain.  seems a bit silly i guess. plenty of hikes around here i haven't done lately because of the heat and smoke though so maybe i'll just hit a few this stretch off. 

 my body wasn't too happy after the drive to Valdez.  just get more sore driving for long stretches. won't stop me...mostly it's the old element.  not built for comfort. it's pretty trashed.  i may have to bite the bullet and purchase a newer car at some point.  hate car payments though.  you can see a mosquito eating me in the selfie above.  yesterday i did the airstrip loop. always a good rainy day option i find.

 some one or a few folks have been building/adding to this beach shelter. it goes back like 10 feet inside. pretty impressive i think.  i was going to climb deeper inside on the way back but others were having their adventure there and the wind was starting to pick up so we headed back up the trail. 

 there were a few moose on the way down, a bull.  lots of tourists were stopped taking pictures so i was keeping the dogs chill so no decent shots were obtained by me of the big bull. there was also a cow.  they wandered off the trail and we passed by on the way to the beach.  no large animals sighted yesterday.

 pictures like this make me realize how large Tusker really is. 

 i didn't take any selfies of us all in Valdez at all.  oh well.  i'm just old, they are cute though. 

 i was quite happy with the dogs walking back up the hill, sure they were a bit tired, but they both walked so good on leash the whole way.  this is why i do all that training....it's so worth it

 liked how this turned out below.  it was a selfie but you never know, sometimes you just gets one that makes you smile.

 trip to Sitka is coming up quickly.  that should be fun.  just a short trip but always fun to explore.  i've been there but just as ferries landed and left. so only for a few hours here and there.  we can explore a bit more flying in. 

 i should go get my blood drawn tomorrow before i hike.  the dogs and i all have our annual check ups this month. 

 last week work was not bad.  i was on call the first night and never called in...then i worked a shift in ER...i think i saw the highest blood alcohol i've ever seen on a non-intubated patient!  quite impressive. my last night i was put on call again but was called in for OT by after 9pm.  came close but we wrestled and sedated my patient out of a "code grey" which used to be a "code strong" which really just means a patient is going ape shit and we need help controlling them....ie drugging them and or restraining them. life is never dull at work that is for sure. no one was injured which is always a great outcome.

 welcome rain after all the heat!!

 was explaining to Ivy Rose that since she is not capable of regulating her active time i have to do it for her...this as i put her tennis ball away and put them on leash for the walk up the hill from the beach.  she did not understand me of course....though i must admit that the dogs speak much better human than i speak dog.

 racism...one hopes that things improve with each generation.  i think overall that does seem to be happening.  we've come leaps from even when i was a kid and a few generations before that...well, we have some pretty embarrassing history in this nation as far as race goes.

 a few quotes i read this week which stuck out to me.  "it is not enough to be quietly non-racist, now is the time to be vocally anti-racist".  this is so true.  it's not enough to look the other way.  the pain is real and the pain has continued.  our clearly racist potus said that if you don't like it here go back to where you came from. i have heard this sentiment on plenty of occasions...mostly by whites directed at other races.  generally not in ear shot...but if a racist comment is made not around other races does that really make it less racist?  to say it or tweet such things so directly just proves beyond a doubt the level of racism that he has within him...that he makes no attempt to hide it. 

 what will his followers do with this information.  i fear this is exactly what many that attend his rallies wish him to say.  while i believe most that approve of his agenda are not actually racist at heart, at some point they all need to decide what they will do about his racism.  will they ignore it and look the other way, will they make some excuses yet again for his totally rude and inappropriate speech.  the folks he directed his ire at are actually citizens...3 born here and one not born here but who became a citizen before his spouse did....but she is white so exempt from his immigration wrath.

 the Mexicans were actually here before many of us...Mexico extended much further into the US at some point in history.  natives were here before most of us. this is a nation of immigrants....and a segment of the population that were forced to immigrate through the slave trade and have never gotten a fair shake since that time. 

 many like to believe that that is past history.  none of us were slave owners...have often heard that, so we shouldn't be held responsible. many seem to forget that after the slaves got freedom they were not truly free in most cases nor were they on any sort of level playing field. this was intentional and generational. 

 for generations education has been sub par in many of the poorer neighborhoods as have many other services.  blacks were singled out for arrest thus leaving generations of kids with out stable family lives, safe and secure.  what a huge difference that can make in a child's life. representation and voting was another way that for generations we have, in this nation, done what we can to prevent blacks and now other non-whites from not having their fair say in our nation.  it started out that just white male land owners could vote...we have grown kicking and screaming it seems to a more fair and equitable voting situation but still there is redistricting that is unfair, added rules, limited hours on a week day for voting to occur.  it seems many do not want to allow certain folks to have their votes. 

 it wasn't fair.  it's not fair.  our nation, especially the south, thrived at the expense of others....others who were owned, who were beaten, who were killed, lynched, who were raped, who were sold.  it sadly seems there always are the "less thans" in every population that do the grunt work.  currently those are the illegals coming across the border to work.  they work the jobs that others do not want to work.  they are willing to work hard for the chance of a better life.  for some, allowing them that better life means giving them something that they do not wish to give, freedom.  an entire war was fought to give the slaves freedom....will another war be fought to find a way to give the next wave of indentured servants their freedom too.

 clearly, when it comes to immigration, legal or illegal we need to put in place a more fair and efficient system. we will always need folks from other nations to fill the gaps in our nations jobs.  in many cases as we move forward  those will also need to be highly educated as well as blue collar and farm labor markets.  can't we finally not make it an issue of race, but an issue of needs and give people freedom and a way forward. our potus is a racist....what will those that support him do...?  look the other way? make excuses?  it remains to be seen

 the other quote i saw was "racism is so American that when you protest it, people think you are protesting America".  that is pretty sad, but it's sadly true.  another quote i liked this week, "we can't help everyone, but we can all help someone".  some times you help by standing up and not making them always have to fight the battle of racism.  take a stand and let it be known that you support them, that you do not accept the idea of a potus who is at heart, racist.  this is nothing new and it's not changing. 

 another great quote...i was looking at quotes this week, "the idea that some lives matter less is the root cause of all that is wrong with the world".  we are all human.  we are entitled to a fair shake at life.  to be loved or hated for who we are and not for the color our skin came out. our tone isn't who we are...our heart is.

 this whole Epstein thing is pretty disturbing as well.  of course, again our potus, refuses to really condemn this guy or the guy who he hired to his cabinet who gave this monster a sweet deal.  the guy molested no doubt hundreds of young girls/young women.  he had a system...recruiters for Gods sake, to bring in his next victims.  he only got 13 months jail time and in that he was allowed to leave prison 6 days a week for "work".  his victims were not given the information of the deal at the time it happened. 

 aren't the folks on the right exhausted yet from making so many excuses for bad behavior.  it's nuts really.  how is it that these rich folks get away with so much?  why is the guy who let him off with a slap on the wrist for molesting and loaning out young girls to be molested and raped, placed in one of the highest positions in the land?

 Epstein also seems to have had a history of sharing his girls with other wealthy men...some rather prominent figures have had their names bantered about related to this.  this includes Clinton and Trump. so far the Clinton connections haven't really come up with anything solid that links him though he did take some flights on the private jet..seems quite possible that he could be more implicated as more information comes out. the same could be said for trump.  he knew him years before Clinton did.  he later distanced himself from the guy and now he acts like he barely knew him.  that is his MO for most of these corrupt men he is associated with. 

 Acosta, the now finished labor secretary, sure gave the guy a sweet deal...at first he said he was staying on as labor secretary and then the a day or two later he quit.  either they do not vet anyone or they don't care. in this case they didn't care...it was brought up in his hearing.  now trump just skips all hearings on his staff and leaves open positions as acting so he doesn't have to vet anyone. 

 it's nothing but swamp in DC now.

 Ken Star, Bill Barr all have connections with this monster as well. he was found to have fake passport as a citizen in Saudi Arabia in one safe in one home...what other things will they find in his homes.  guys like that like to keep trophies of their conquests. indeed he also had nude photos of young women and cash, diamonds...

 one can hope that he actually does real time after this.  sadly, our justice system destroys the lives of much lesser criminals while allowing wealthy criminals to get these sweet deals no matter what they pull off

 Epstein wanted to set up his modeling agency like Trump had...it was a means to get girls, many of them from overseas.  vulnerable.  for how rotten trump is he may have at least kept his conquests to over 18...but I'm not sure how closely any of these guys checked ages so anything is possible. 

 it sounds like Epstein may have passed these girls around to his wealthy friends. 

 it's just baffling to me how many scoundrels seem to be in the circle of donald trump...at what point do folks finally get that he is as dirty as the rest of them are. 

 he doubled down on his attack on those women from congress. the right has created an absolute hate for a few of them, especially Ocasio-Cortez.  saw a relative posted about her speech in congress about the visit she had down to the border facilities.  he said she was a fake and a fraud and that she'd never went to the facilities that it had all been shot in an empty parking lot or some crazy thing.  it's one thing to not like her stance but the outright hatred towards her, a jr congressional leader is pretty odd really to me. 

 but that seems to be the GOP way.  they pick  "enemies" and then they make them out to be the devil who is going to destroy us all...oddly, somehow they have found a way to saint the current iitoo.  i mean there is a segment of those evangelicals who actually believe God sent trump here to save America.  they are even willing to fight to their death for him.  i just find it all baffling.  for such a weak and frail individual...

 anyway...those are the two big news stories ruminating through my brain these days. 

 puppies in kettle ponds.  they sure had fun out there...some nice photo's too.

 Ivy is great at the leap.  Tusker tends to wade in more.

 the tourists to the glacier took loads of photos i think of the dogs playing in the ponds.  these ponds on that hot day were probably not all that cold, though the dogs do swim around ice bergs as well. 

 hard to believe how far back this glacier has receded in just the time I've lived up here. 

 this administration is systematically tearing apart anything science related.  it's all quite depressing.  if it doesn't fit with their narrative they destroy it.  that narrative is not necessarily based on reality but it has become our new reality. 

 ready for more?  these guys usually are. 

 I'm probably ready for some more sleep.  maybe I'll try for Hidden Lakes tomorrow.  the heat killed off lots of flowers, perhaps there are some up high. 

thankful for: A.  my REI gift card...way more than i expected...thanks! i need a new day pack!!  :-)  B.  a beach day and a cool breeze  C.  stir fry...always so good