sun is just coming out again...

 we've had a few cloudy days, some rain.  love it. summer can be so stressful. you feel obligated to be out constantly to enjoy the extended hours of daylight so a rainy day every so often allows you to relax and be lazy if you want.

 still trying to make the phone calls to get our donation page back running on our WARIS site.  many phone calls later and I'm not really any closer to fixing the issue.  this lady above climbed on her paddle board in this rather cold water wearing street clothing...all cotton.  at least she was wearing a life jacket so her body can be fished out if she goes in.  fool. 

 a few guys were out on inflatable kayaks in  front of Spencer Glacier and a large chunk of the glacier calved and water shot directly at these paddlers.  they were extremely lucky that there wasn't a large chunk of ice in there. also lucky that a huge wave off of the calving didn't swamp them or that one of those large ice bergs around them didn't flip over, flipping them over.  it can be dangerous out there.

 i suspect that is what happened with those German tourists and their guide who were found dead at the Valdez glacier. lucky they had life jackets on.  we've had record breaking warm weather all summer.  no global warming though...that is a left wing conspiracy theory...haha. i mean why believe thousands of well educated scientists globally when you can buy into a story made up by pundits on TV and reality TV show hosts.  it's happening whether they chose to believe it or not.  we will be just that much further behind trying to do anything meaningful to slow it down because of their foolish conspiracy theories.

 that is the thing about conspiracy theories.  they can be entertaining, but they aren't based on facts so that is all they really are, entertainment. 

 memes are not articles. they are also not necessarily based on facts.  so just re-posting some meme that you found entertaining thinking that it has in it actual facts is foolish as well.  memes can be created by any fool who has access to a computer, many of whom live in Russia.  that was a huge part of the misinformation campaign by Russia and now we have other nations out there trying to pull the same shenanigans...and they can because the GOP crew in DC have refused to admit, accept or respond to the attack on our nation by these outfits. why is that you ask...?  because they choose to believe conspiracy theories over the facts that were well researched out by members of the FBI/CIA/Homeland Security...you get the picture.

 i saw a meme today...i didn't repost it.  some of it does appear to be truthful when i did some searching to see how factual it is.  we send Israel some $ billion of our tax dollars every year.  now these tax dollars do not directly pay for their free healthcare and subsidized education but isn't it interesting that so many GOP members have no problem helping out their friends in Israel while not helping out their fellow citizens. 

 all i hear is that we have no money for these things...that is only because A. we have chosen to give the wealthiest out there a total exemption from paying taxes at all in some cases and a near exemption in others.  the middle class in this nation is  being charged with paying all the bills. i think we all would agree that we don't really like the waste that is being spent at the federal level on both sides.  B.  we simply have chosen to spend money on things that do not directly positively impact the citizens of this nation. like an outrageous golf schedule, 4 billion to Israel perhaps.

 the iitoo has decided to hold off on the latest round of tariffs..because they actually do hurt the citizens and that is going to start looking bad for him i guess.  don't see any signs that his very obedient followers are going to stray, but there are some veterans and farmers and others who are starting to grumble a bit it seems.  he'd better stick to the anti immigrant, racist rhetoric if he wants to hang on to those most loyal trump followers. 

 last count 6 officers have been shot in Philadelphia.  that is an ongoing and scary situation.  I'm sure the big questions on the media post this will be what type of guns, what color were the people involved.  that is where we are as a nation at this time.  the analysis on all sides will be impacted by those facts.

 Crazy GOP congressman Steve King had yet another round of crazy...his latest...without rape and incest the world population size would be dramatically decreased...this being his reason why women who are the victims of rape and incest should not be allowed to have abortions.

 so i guess we should thank all those men for raping and pillaging in history because they moved forward the human population. we should be grateful to those men who had incestuous relationships with family members because they kept human kind going. 

 he's the same guy who argued that phrases like white nationalism and white supremacy shouldn't be seen as offensive.  if you want the party to not be seen as the party that the racists prefer perhaps it's time to vote out people like this.  he's done 9 terms so far though.

 trumps buddy Put is causing some trouble in his homeland.  a rocket test went bad at one of their test sites. radiation levels rose 16 times baseline.  information is of course, murky, as is the way with Rus. villages were told to evacuate and then shortly after that was called off.  ambulances came and left with victims...the ambulances were sealed shut?  5 scientists were killed. they were quite possibly working on a nuclear reactor.  10 workers at the hospital that were taking care of the victims of the explosion were then also sent to Moscow for treatment of some kind...radiation exposure perhaps?

 a massive lightning event happened close to the north pole, the record low sea ice and record number of fires burning in the far north of the planet, releasing methane i believe.

 the rest of these photos are of our kayak in Harriman.  with this extreme warm summer the glaciers will be receding dramatically sadly.

 the lightning strikes, according to scientists, mean that the atmosphere near the pole was unstable and warm and moist enough to create thunderstorms.  the poles are normally fairly dry. this summer Alaska has no sea ice. 

 i worry what this will mean for the walrus and polar bear populations.  reports are more polar bears are being seen early in areas such as Kaktovik.  more walrus are having these large haul outs on land.  the females tend to follow the pack ice north.  the distances they travel will become more and more lengthy and how will that impact them.

 of course, once again this environmental nightmare of an administration are taking a hatchet to the endangered species act.  this will negatively impact the ability to put walrus on this list when the time comes that they are being more obviously impacted by these warming trends...you know the ones that don't really exist in the world of conspiracy theorists.

 they are also making slashing the ability to protect clean water and clean air in the name of drilling and coal mining and mining.  it's all about the mighty dollar and easier profits.  they also quietly allowed people to import elephant ivory again into this nation.  it had been banned. 

 stock market is suffering losses apparently.  perhaps that fabulous economy that trump inherited from Obama is finally starting to suffer from trumps incompetence.  he should have been in good shape but these tariff wars that he said over and over again would be so easy to win are proving not so easy to win and that his plan to win is hitting many members of his base worse than others.

 so many broken promises...but lucky for him, his most loyal followers seem to easily look the other way at his failings.  not really clear what the charm is with him, why the evangelicals have been so willing to look the other way at so much...is it just for judges on the superior court?  is that enough for them? 

 LS and i did a stretch in Campbell Airstrip.  we got some good laughs in.  always needed. my knee seems to be doing fine.  rest/ice and elevation seem to be doing the trick.  really happy there seems to be nothing in the joint that was impacted.  i was really lucky.   the bruises will be with me for awhile.

 we haven't had hardly any rain this month and it's usually a kind of wet month.  there are hardly any mushrooms popping up, though i did see a few out there today finally.  maybe that light rain yesterday was enough to make some pop. she was laughing at me attempting to take a few shots without kneeling...that is still painful.  i told her i could not become a Catholic this week...way too much kneeling.

 our trumpy governor is walking back on some of his initial cuts...seems very trumpy.  create chaos and then rush in and act like you are saving the day, when really are you are doing is putting things back to where they were or a bit less than what they were. 

 another trump official was speaking of the poem on the statue of liberty.  how it was really only intended for Europeans.  the thing that seems so odd about these GOP battles against immigration...well first it was about illegal immigrants but it has quickly become about any and all immigrants that don't suit them...mostly Mexicans it seems, but i do not get the opinion that they are too keen on immigrants from Africa either.

 historically you look at any society and you will generally find that many that move into other nations start out taking the lowest jobs in that society...in years past these roles were filled by slaves or serfs or what were deemed as lower class citizens. in the past however those in these roles generally had no ability to move up the ladder. that is the difference with our nation.  there is the hope that either you are you children will be able to rise above  and have a better life.  most immigrants are actually extremely hard workers from what i have seen.  they are goal oriented and are willing to sacrifice in order to reach those goals.

 i remember my Mom mocking folks who moved in next door.  several families combined their low salaries to purchase a home together.  they build up equity and then  later were able to sell and perhaps all be able to afford their own houses.  i always thought it was very wise of them. 

 as far as healthcare for illegals.  i know it sounds distasteful, but the reality is you pay for their care anyway.  when they come to the ER with illnesses and injuries...they will get cared for.  as a nurse we do not ask their citizen status.  also there are millions of folks here illegal or not, if we do not take care of that population, disease could spread by kids not being vaccinated.  leaving a large swath of the population without any healthcare can lead to a public health crisis.  so nothing is a simple as those fighting against immigration, legal or not, want you to believe.

 why weren't checks done on Epstein before he killed himself...if that is what happened?  the conspiracy theorists will have a hey day with this one.  i don't think we will ever know, but there are many out there who probably will not be sad he's dead...the list of murder suspects could be long and include many nations.  could include our own leader, though it's funny they are trying to make the conspiracy theory about the Clinton's...their favorite targets of conspiracy theories.  honestly, i don't think Clinton has much to lose in the big picture compared to others...say trump who is currently potus.

 SJ paddles in.

 the others went closer than i or our other friend did this day.  not too warm this week we were there though so not tons of calving like we had several years back when we had a large section come down on us.  we weren't close enough to get the ice and water sprayed at us, but we did have to survive large waves coming at us.  I'd say 15-20 foot waves

 they gather in the ice.  it's just beautiful out there on the water.

 a tour boat came through and i think the tourists were watching us kayak more than the glaciers at some point.

 i was out further and trying to flag to the boat that there were more kayaks in there and to slow down...they were in a lot more ice.  boats create a wake which can flip ice bergs.

 a few years back there was a caving during one of those boat tours. a large chunk of ice came flying at the boat.  a tourist was hit. i think the tourist ended up with a busted thigh.

 he was lucky that was all he got.

 early flowers

 our camping site for the last night.

 my friends camped a bit further off from us. 

 we set up a cook tent to keep us dry in the rain.

 no more kayak trips planned.  summer is winding down a bit.  i do have the cabin next week.  that is always fun. 

 i need to find a urologist...probably a kidney stone.  no pain.  just keep having some blood in my urine samples.  anyone know a good one? 

 a friend is thinking of coming up in September. we could head to Valdez and then head up to Fairbanks up the back road...always pretty, especially in the fall. 

 always more to see and the fall is always a favorite.  will it finally get wet?  will we have a cold winter or a warm one? 

 i just hope we have snow, lots of snow.

 better get off here. 

thankful for:  A.  walking  B. fans in this hot weather C.  that the wee one is slowly improving and gaining weight...you go girl!!  :-)