the week in pictures...

 rain out there today. will hit the trails again soon.  arrange another place to stay for our adventure north, eat and then hit the dog park probably.  the easy route before a shift and with rain.

 yesterday i did the Campbell Airstrip loop.  the fall colors are so pretty out there already.

 this time passes super fast so it's always a mad rush to get out there and enjoy it all

 these are also from other recent walks.  the beach, N. Bivouac.

 we got some pretty good wind the other night.  one of my trees snapped off fairly high off.  it came crashing down on the fences between my place and my neighbors.

 so yesterday morning, on labor day, i labored to cut up the branches i could and see what the damage was on my neighbors side of the fence. doesn't look terrible.  i played with the power tools and put a fence slat up to prevent curious dogs from either side from moving between homes.

 my batteries all were dying in my little power drills so I'll have to take a look at that and put some more screws in.  wanted to get the pups out on the trails. 

 been watching some old movies i haven't seen for a bit.  so these past weeks I've watched, "Amelie", "About A Boy" and "Thank You, More Please".

 in between i have cleaned the house a bit in preparation for my visitor. 

 besides loving having a visitor it's always a great excuse to clean the house. 

 smokey sunrise coming home from work last week.  the rain seems to have taken care of the smoke for the moment.  hopefully it really puts a dent in the fires and helps out those fire fighters.

 horrible fire on a boat off of the CA coast.  fire is just so awful.  the idea of so many trapped in the boat with no chance to escape it is really disturbing at so many levels.  the death toll is looking to be pretty high.  the only ones that escaped seem to be the crew...that will no doubt leave them scarred for life. 

 one does wonder what happened there?  why wasn't one crew member sent to rouse the guests below deck.  it may have all just happened so fast but....

 it was a dive boat out on a weekend holiday trip.  tragic

 the Bahama's seem to have taken the hit on this latest Hurricane.  it will be days/weeks before we really know how devastating that was and the toll on the lives there.

 another shooting.  i guess Walmart has decided to cut it's guns/ammo sales today.  some of their biggest customers are avid gun rights advocates so that may take a toll.  Dicks sporting goods did the same, at least with the assault style rifles after the owner/s learned the gun for a shooting had been purchased there.  these companies may find that distasteful or it could  just be that gun sales were lagging.

 guns sales do tend to lag when a Republican is in office.  the NRA has a tougher time creating panic about the Dems stealing all their guns when the Dems have control. also...how many guns do these people need...perhaps the market is just saturated.

 i suspect if the economy takes a hit with these tariffs and the ever growing deficit people won't have the extra cash to purchase guns over paying rent and food.

 the mid west farmers/ranchers are seeing the fall out on these tariffs.  not sure that will lead to them altering their votes but sadly there is an increase in suicides in the Midwest. 

 suicides in ranchers/farmers and veterans...add to that all the overdoses and then toss in the regular mass shootings.  we don't need an enemy...we are our own worst nightmare.

 the fence on my side with the branches for me to cut up

 i could have made my own fort

 the colors are so vibrant!!

 the dogs always love their beach time.  i need to try and head to Homer again and see if i can catch a few fall colors down there.  perhaps my next stretch off after this trip north.

 Ivy Rose at the dog park.

 the pups chill at home while i cook.

 still just a few flowers out there.  very few mushrooms sightings.  makes me sad to not do any mushroom hunting this season. 

 maybe I'll find some up north on our ramblings.

 hoping we do get some good colors on this trek.  haven't done as many big hikes this summer, smoke and heat were just big deterrents for me.

 thankfully, the dogs do not care where we walk, they just are happy to be out. 

 luckily, no matter where you walk up here there is always something pretty to see.

 yesterday we ran across these two fairly young moose.  no mama spotted. hope they do OK through the winter...they do look a bit young to be on their own. we may spot them in the area through the winter months.  never have heard any more about the milk cow that had been loose.  perhaps she did not survive the summer. 

 the pups look cute in these fall colors.

 playing on the airstrip

 random leaves.  the wind was still blowing but overall had calmed.

 another view of the damage

 the old fireweed is ready for winter.

 Tusker at the dog park

 Tusker and Ivy check out the damage.  nothing i could do that first night after finding it.  wind still blowing. 

 here the pups are in a stay and you can see a jogger passing by. they are really pretty impressive at this little trick.  it is generally appreciated.  can't say as they are 100%, i don't think many dogs are 100% on anything.  I'd say they are close to 90% when i have the tennis ball and more like 75% if they have it.

 such good puppies!!

 the falling tree does make me concerned for the height of the remaining trees and the possibility of damage in wind storms in the future.  hate the idea of cutting out more trees...the goal would be to replant other trees eventually though.

 piles of smaller branches.

 as repaired as it was going to get yesterday

 off to get the rest of the day going.

thankful for: A.  when i see any fires now i think of how grateful i am that my niece and her family came through alive, though they lost nearly all their possessions. B. fall, always a favorite time of year  C.  that the damage from the tree wasn't worse.