hardly moved yesterday...

 and now back to work.  quick blog first i guess.

 hopefully i can hit the trail. it's a safe place for me.

 far away from the temptations of commenting.  i'm bad.  i know. i have to stop.

 the swing...after i had been tackled off of it by Ivy.

 she for sure needed a bit of a rest yesterday. i made an appointment to get her hips checked out.  hoping some pain meds and conservative management for the time. i'm not for jumping into surgery too quickly.  she is young and active though so it may end up being an option. with Rio she just wasn't active, was blind and had separation issues.

 where to walk today? nothing too strenuous for the girl. 

 i really can't believe this month is almost over. the time flies so quickly. i feel i've barely done anything this summer.  crazy.

 i think, like many, i want to put this year behind and move forward. i doubt it will be that easy. 

 there will no doubt be much more civil unrest verging on some sort of civil war.  this kid drove with his weapon across state lines thinking he was helping the police. but instead he fired that weapon.  rumors and false reports all over have those on the right making him into a hero and demeaning those who he killed as being worthy of death of having been pedophiles. no idea what is true or not in all this yet, but i suspect the sources of this information are sketch at best.

 it doesn't even matter if they were pedophiles, the kid had no way of knowing whether they were or were not people with a record.  if i enter a bar and start shooting and happen to kill a few gang members with long rap sheets, that doesn't make me right or a hero and it doesn't discount the others i killed who were innocent.  we have courts and laws and a system in place.  it can be corrupt at times and the equality of it is questionable at times as well, but still we have a system.  we fix the system, we don't go rogue.

 rioting and looting should not be happening, which is why the communities have put up curfews.  calling these democrat cities or democrat states is bull because there are also plenty of Republicans and independents and others living there.  having a democrat in charge doesn't mean that the entire town is democrat.  it's just hate speech. 

 i put bait out there today and a guy grabbed it.  said yes he is ready for civil war and ready to kill.  he is so consumed with hate and fear that he is easy to manipulate into saying on facebook that he is ready to kill those citizens who think differently.  fear and hate make people easy to manipulate. the sad thing is in places like Rwanda, Germany and Bosnia.  those in power, easily manipulate the regular folks to do their killing for them.  they sit back in their ivory towers laughing at how easy it was to get the mayhem started.  how powerful they are.

 i guess speaking out in any way is doing something, even if it gets me called crazy on facebook. we have no power at this time. there is so much misinformation out there and people are sucking it up and leaping on it.

 there is no patience.  there is hate. there is fear. there is anger.  these are not emotions that will lead to calm, they will lead to more unrest.  we have someone in the white house who stokes this.  the entire RNC this week has been a message of lies and hate and fear.  he never makes any attempt to find bridges to peace only drops bombs of division.

 it doesn't matter who the Dems put up against him, the right will create lies and conspiracies and their base will just eat it all up. it all seems pretty hopeless at this point. i've no doubt this kids shooting incident will only be the first of many, many that will be much larger. the rioters/looters will bring weapons, the instigators from the other side will bring weapons.  things will blow up and lives will be lost.

 and trump will sit on his golden toilet with a smile on his face looking forward to his next golf game.

 still a few flowers out there.  not many though.

 winter cometh. 

 the dead fish seem telling of this nations future right now.  hoping we can stay a bit out of the fray up here.  though i am fairly liberal and this is mostly a trump state. will i be a target?

 its depressing times and there is still this pandemic going on. fake news to many. our nation must look like a shit show to those outside.

 there was also a hurricane that made landfall last night.  thankfully, it appears relatives are all safe and relatives of relatives appear safe as well..so that is good news.

 charred trees from the fire.  was pretty though with all the bright pink flowers all around.  the fireweed is really blooming in that area on the Kenai.

 happy dogs !!  they love the ocean.

 lucky them, they are blissfully unaware of the current situations. 

 i'll head to work and it will blur all that is going on outside.  my focus will be the patients and the pandemic.

 check out these monsters!!

 they are starting to rot more and more.  mushrooms are the clean up crew in nature.

 i started to binge watch this netflix series on matchmaking in India. seems crazy really.  they take marriage very seriously as a family event...or so it seems.

 hard to look away. 

 mostly i chilled, read, did cross word puzzles. enjoyed the pups and cats.

 Covi went in and out.  he enjoys being outside, but i don't think he's too keen on the wet paws.

 i see clouds and blue skies today...just in time to return to work, haha.

 here are the pups totally enjoying resting near the fire at the beach.

 liked how this stone was cracked...then the sea life takes over the space in the crevice and life thrives.

 these mushrooms decay looked like aliens i think.

 not a glorious sunset the second night but not bad...it never is.

 the jellies were out.  really just had one low tide to enjoy each day as the second one was in the sleeping hours.  the first day the tide was pretty low though so that was cool.  long enough to enjoy Bishops Beach and the Spit. then the tide was starting to go out by sunset.

 sunset is much earlier.  i guess there is starting to be more opportunities for aurora watching.  will have to start looking at those forecasts.

 nature is constant.  it ebbs and flows.  humans are erratic.  can't be trusted.

 i will try to stick to animals and nature more in the future....

 the first nights sunset was a bit more magical

 cute little mushroom

 walk at Kelly Lake.

 have a gift card for REI. haven't been in stores really since before this covid stuff started.  i do need some new pants though for hiking. perhaps my next stretch off i will brave the store.

 well, i have bored you no doubt...if you read.  or pissed you off i guess.

 the truth is i no longer care if i piss people off.  it's just gotten so irrational out there. 

 how do you avoid the madness and stay sane?

thankful for A.  the people who are still in my life and tolerate me B.  fur time C. that i have a job even though some days it's really not easy to be there.

Happy National Dog Day...

 and my brothers Birthday...what a lucky day to have as your Birthday...shared with dogs.

 i was just petting all my furs. they have lovely soft coats. misse the cats while we were in Homer but they had a visit from their co-owner.  :-)  covi played in the sinks with the water. i haven't ever seen that.  so funny.  he has so much personality.  he was happy to  be able to get out and run outside again.

 the dogs and i made many stops coming and going from Homer. that is how these trips go for me. the journey is a large part of it all. i try to take at least one new stop/road each time i make that drive. the dead fish pictures are, of course, from Deep Creek.  not many bald eagles out there this time. still lots of dead fish.  they seemed a perfect fit for black and white photography.

 we stopped at Girdwood on the way out.  as i had just been with the dogs in Portage the day before it seemed a nice option

 the second night i decided to make a fire and try to get the dogs to just chill by it.  eventually, they did.  it's a new trick for them as they seem to believe that anytime we are on the beach...or outside for that matter, the tennis ball needs to be getting thrown. so some treats were in order and a few lessons to keep them safe from the fire.  i had to rescue each of them at least once to prevent a fire incident.  i bought a bundle of wood and we chilled there until it burned down.  it was very relaxing for me once the dogs settled and i think relaxing for them too.

 Ivy was pretty sore and i need to make the call to the vet to just get her hips checked out.  really just want to start with pain meds for her.  she's generally ready and willing to run the next time we go outside.  she has no off button.  she is chilling inside with me today.  just avoiding activity for the day..they had plenty over the last three days.

 we also made a stop at Kelly/Peterson Lakes.  it's a great place to walk and there is apparently a cabin 1/2 mile in that we can rent some time. the trail is in the burn area on the Kenai. lots of fireweed mixed in with the burned stuff so that was actually pretty.  so a stop or two to check that out.  happy to see the growth coming out of the ashes...also grateful for all the fire troops that fought the fires of last summer and that are now fighting fires in other areas of our nation.

 i hear some beautiful trees in CA have been lost to fire. so sad always.  fire is terrible.  natural disasters just have a way of making life difficult and dramatic.  mother nature will never be tamed.  an independent female for sure. still love a line from an old series....some women cannot be tamed and so they run free.  then there was something about until they find a man who can run free with them.  it takes a strong and confident man to be able to allow the untamed to be free. those men are tough to find.

 as i write a hurricane is coming towards the coast...headed to the border area between Texas and Louisiana.  my SIL parents live there and have refused to evacuate i understand.  i have quite a few family members in the Houston area.  may they be safe through this. those hurricanes are awful sounding.  so scary.

 a few of these are also from the Portage adventures the day before.  first we walked the trail of blue ice and then walked out towards Byron Glacier.  as you can see the official trail ends about here and you can see how far away the glacier bits are...it's receded a lot

 there is a section of the blue ice trail that has all these branches coated with moss.  always so pretty, especially as the light hits it

 a contrast to the Girdwood trees.  just varies with how much of a rain forest you are looking at.

 on the beach

 these two love the beach, as do i.

 Covi has actually been inside quite a bit. getting attention.  the sun is out right now.  i should be rushing out there.  i'm very slow moving.  sleeping in is good though since i'll be back to work tomorrow night.

 busy not watching the RNC convention, haha.  sounds like quite the line up of lying is happening. using every scare tactic they can to terrify the right that the left are worse than handing the nation over to Putin to run...Trump actually sent the dictator a fan letter several years back before running for potus. that's what you want in your potus...a guy who sends fan letters to dictators.

 quite the class act.  the ex-porn star turned wife with lies that got her made a citizen and her parents though nobody else should have such rules apply to them. the couple who held loaded weapons pointed at peaceful protesters.  the potus who has so many NDA's that it's highly doubtful there aren't at least a few that contain pay offs for abortions.

 the religious right...the party of morals and ethics and family values who's potus has been married 3 x's and has cheated on every one.  the ruse is they never believed in these things really, just used them to gain the trust and support of people who do believe in those things...however, those people now seem blinded by the total lack of morals, ethics and values as they believe the agenda they desire out weighs any morals ethics or values they may have once possessed.  it's now a take all attitude.  they speak of the hate on the left but their whole trump joy is that he angers the left with what he does and says...for them, their hatred towards the left is so great, so complete that they would watch the entire nation burn down in order to piss off the left.

 so there it is...the morals, ethics and values were all just a smoke screen. they just wanted to get their way, no matter what. that is the truth.  they have been convinced or they convinced themselves that God is on their side so it doesn't matter what illegal, unethical, immoral acts must occur as long as they carry the mantle of God. such pure arrogance or is it ignorance. time will tell i guess.

 hatch law...flouted...they have corrupted our government beyond anything we thought possible. 

 Covi Kitten knows when the red bag comes out he will be left behind...he was not happy.

 there are little signs of the fall coming towards us. 

 more of the light in the trees of Portage area.

 our first steps onto Bishops Beach in Homer...these were toppled within seconds. 

 these rocks with the seaweed just always seem like crazy hair so i feel the need to find shell bits to make faces on them. 

 i stayed at the Driftwood again.  i take cleaning wipes and wipe it all down, open the windows to air it all out.  bring most of my food.  basically, i ate one actual meal a day and then just snacked.

 we are out exploring much of the day. at night we crash hard. these dogs were wiped out each night.

 i found mushrooms where i could.  they are still out there.

 the end bits of the fire.  it felt good to just sit with a campfire. i do love a good campfire, especially one with such an amazing view.

 another spot where i stopped to view the burn area

 quite a few jellies on the beaches this week.  no sea stars seen.  on Deep Creek i noticed that all the jellies had seagull footprints all around them and the centers had been pecked out.  those gulls are brutal.  with the salmon each year they bounce on them as they are dying and peck out their eyeballs. i still think those salmon must have done some terrible stuff in a previous life to get the life of a salmon. 

 you can see some of those gull tracks near our feet/paws.

 there were some nice groups of mushrooms out there at Portage mostly.

 here Ivy is relaxing by the fire.

 this sweet swing is under the stores on the spit.  i swang and chatted with my niece for a bit...right after i got off the phone, Ivy became impatient with me swinging and not throwing the tennis ball. i was jumped on and ended up on the ground.  swing session over. she then wanted to jump all over me while i was down...that is my girl. 

 in some areas the sand really sinks with each step.

 as the evening ended, i tossed the tennis ball..it went under this log at one point and required teamwork and digging to save it. of course, minutes later as we were leaving that ball was dropped some place, never to be seen again.

 looks like it's clouding up outside again.  i hear it rained quite a bit up here while i was enjoying the sunshine in Homer.  it was wet both ways except on the coast.

 the dogs, thankfully, still ignore the dead and decaying fish.

 i think i saw one moose so not a lot of wildlife sightings.  there were some congregating sandhill cranes, love listening to them. their call is so unique and can be heard for miles.

 another night of tuckered out dogs....or as i often say, Tuskered out. 

 always a blend of photos.  hopefully, tonight i will actually look at some from the large camera. i still haven't looked at the ones from Valdez.  i just got busy with the cabinets.  i still need to reload those cabinets and work on the back splash.

 then flooring next i guess.

 always the projects, but it is worth it.  looks so much nicer already. the kitchen is so much nicer as well and i really enjoy cooking more.

 sounds like the neighbors is almost done as well.  i enjoy watching the process..those shows that show the before and after and the process.

 thought some of these jelly shots came out cool.

 not sure if they will be calendar worthy but i may have less stuff this year to use since no big trip happened.  could always pull from past years i guess.

 not sure if this is a jelly being eaten by a sea anemone.  looked strange but interesting.  jellies and anemone's were the most seen creatures this week....and dead fish of course.

it's after two and we are still in the house.  better get motivated.  drives are a bit exhausting.  thankful for A.  another safe journey with beautiful views and fabulous dog companionship  B. these escapes from the Covid stress C. my brother Jeff, who listens to me, who understands, who relates and appreciates.