near miss i guess...

 sometime between SH and I turning off Tudor to Campbell Airstrip Rd and KR doing the same a teenager riding a bike was hit and killed in that intersection.  roads were still closed when we finished our walk in a few hours.  seems strange to have been there just minutes before it happened. so unaware that a terrible event was going to occur. haven't heard much more than that.  though the report said the accident happened at about 11:30 am and we were all late to arrive.  it had to have been a bit later than that. 

 there was a part of me that wondered if i just didn't see it and drove past unknowingly...but i do not think that would have been possible.  there is a fire station a few hundred feet from there so i doubt there was anything anyone could have done.  we had a lovely and sunny walk through the woods.  we took our time and enjoyed all the fungi finds out there.  we ended up taking an extra loop as there was a moose on the tank trail and she wasn't moving...i suspect it was the same moose that made LS and i turn around a bit ago.  they can be funny like that.

 loved the light through the trees.

 haven't seen any bears but this sure does look like a big bear took a chunk out of this tree with it's claws. 

 not many boletes out there this year, but there were a few here...the squirrels were taking nibbles out of it.

 i woke up early as i had my urology appointment.  we went ahead and did a cystoscopy in the office this morning...my bladder is clear so that is good.  he figured he could whip that out and i could make my dog walk.  my Dr is super nice...he and his fiance have a pair of 10 week old goldendoodle puppies, siblings...so we had to exchange dog photo's.  haha. will schedule a CT next and see if that brings to light why i have trace amounts of blood in my urine. 

 on the plus side, i am insured and therefore i can generally afford to have check ups which can lead to finding issues and being able to treat them.  this is not always available for many people out there.

 me using berries to add to the art of the fungi.  :-) 

 lots of shelf fungi/bear bread out there...we decided these guys really like dead and decaying trees.

 the rest are from the Denali Highway .

 for some parts the color was past prime.  at the end you see we hit a nice area with great color.  all of it is beautiful in my mind.

 we stopped at MaClaren for a walk before getting to the cabin for the night.

 let the dogs stretch one more time.  they do allow the dogs into the dining area, which surprised me.  i opted to leave them in the car for our evening meal and then in the morning i did allow them to join us for breakfast.  they did ok...i had tossed the ball for them repeatedly before attempting breakfast. 

 the latest mess with Trump seems to have some bite. may move the needle closer to impeachment...at least in the congress..will the GOP ever turn on their God, Trump? it's doubtful.  still i think the Dems need to do what is right.  this man is abusing his power and the corruption is at a level which can't be ignored. 

 more keeps coming out about his with holding money from Ukraine in a bid to get them to find dirt on his political enemy...in this case Biden.  i doubt Biden will come out unscathed if only because these conspiracy theorists really can muddy the waters of truth.  it may end up being too much to overcome.  the GOP are experts at conspiracy bull...they can create a complicated tale of lies that sounds just possible.  it doesn't take much for the followers to believe every conspiracy theory delivered to them at this point...they are primed to believe by the fox news and other right wingnuts.

 the more he gets away with the more he believes he can get away with....eventually, it is possible he will grow overly confident in his grasp of power and everything will snap.  a house of cards grows tall but can be toppled by a small  breeze.  he has built his house of cards up with the assistance of the GOP henchmen....may they all topple with him.  lie in  bed with the devil...you know the saying.

 i have no pity for any of them, they have made their bed.

 why is it that women who become pregnant are supposed to live up to their responsibilities and have the baby, but women who have an abortion weren't given enough information and may feel remorse for their actions so society should protect them?  i say they are both responsible for their own actions...they are adults. there isn't really a way to totally prepare people to be parents either.  as adults we make decisions and we live with the choices we make. 

 i never felt abortion  was something i would do, though i wouldn't want to rule it out if i had been raped and ended up pregnant. i also knew that in general if i ended up pregnant i was probably in better shape than many others out there.  my family would not have been thrilled but i suspect they would have stepped up for me and the baby. people get knocked up, even religions people get knocked up. people have sex...it's been happening for generations.  for me though, until this society is willing to help women prevent pregnancies or help families after they have kids through health care, good education, a livable wage, help with childcare....and lets include help for all the kids that end up in foster care or in and out of foster care...until we have a handle on some of these bigger issues please do not ask me to join the side of stopping abortions.  we are doing a pretty lousy job with the kids we already have.  they all deserve better.  you fix these issues and I'm probably going to be more open to abortion limits...though i suspect fixing the other issues will decrease the need or desire for abortions anyway.

 i work in medicine...guess what,  parents kill their kids.  it's a hell of a lot less distasteful to have a fetus lost than a 2 month old or a 2 year old or a 5 year old. i guess what I'm saying is people who don't want to be pregnant, often do not make great parents.  maybe some of them would do okay if they felt they had support...also intelligence and a good education are not necessarily marks of good parents. I've seen some pretty dim witted people who are extremely loving and good to their kids...and wealthy/educated people who have no use for their kids.

 the bottom line is elements of society should not insist on forcing their religious/social restrictions onto other members of society. if someone has an abortion that is their choice, they live with that choice...it may haunt them or not, still their choice. 

 our cabin on the lake

 there was this family of swans out there.  those young ones still seem fairly young to make the big journey south. 

 18 house Republicans so far have said they are not seeking a re-election.  the usual statements as to why...the trump Republicans have taken over the party...the tea party/freedom caucus has become too extreme for some in the GOP....

 they don't say enough, they haven't said enough.  they resign in shame as far as i can see. 

 an old gas pump...still functions.  it's even more valuable since the Paxson pump is gone.  didn't look to see what the charge per gallon is...gotta be pretty substantial though.

 one of the resident dogs...had free reign.  cute pup

 our morning drive began

 colt has suspended the manufacture of AR-15's.  they said the market is saturated...they say this and that they will focus on military and police weapons.  I'm fine with that.  perhaps a bit of the truth is they are tired of seeing something they manufactured killing American after American.  perhaps they have a soul after all...doubtful but one can hope.

 bottom line is they probably just aren't making enough money on selling them to the private sector to merit producing the arms. 

 i think we all agree that our society has failed the mentally ill and the drug addicted.  though it is annoying that the mentally ill are currently being blamed for all these shootings...these are actually rarely carried out by the mentally ill and more likely to be done by radicalized citizens. we just don't like admitting that we have home grown terrorists all around us who are pulling these off. much easier to blame the mentally ill...even though the same folks who like to blame the mentally ill do not have any inclination to give the mentally ill access to help 

 our homeless population is growing, our prisons are too full with offenders...many of whom we make worse by our treatment.  much of our mentally ill just end up in prison because we have no better system to deal with them.  our veterans get the shaft as well often times...we love them when they serve but look away from them after they serve. 

 my conspiracy is the GOP want abortions to stop  and don't want to help the poor because they need a steady stream of humans to fight these wars they get us in to...God knows many of them aren't going and their kids get out of it.  i spoke with an older guy, he'd had major injuries when he was a teenager.  still he enlisted...i wondered why they would take someone with his history but it was his only real option in the day....he wanted in.  so our potus gets out with bone spurs and this guy goes in with actual medical issues because it's his only option for a future. 

 we had rain on our trip, but mostly we seemed to stay ahead of it as we did our crossing.

 another pair of swans...they will all be gone soon

 a bit of the fall colors

 always enjoy a good reflection.

 clouds make reflections interesting

 we stopped here so the dogs could run around a bit.  i like to stop often for them

 here is another stop to stretch my legs and let the dogs play a bit

 the colors in this section were more vibrant

 still some good reds and yellows

 the hill sides were a patchwork. 

 you never know so it's good to drive around and see what you can find out there.

 time to head to bed soon i guess.  always good to catch up on the reading.  i just started a new book...we shall see.  seems light and funny so far.  "me and earl and the dying girl". 

 nice views ahead...

thankful for A.  a clear bladder...next  B.  to have insurance  C.  to have a job