the vote is in....

 

hard to wade through the zillions of candidates for Mayor but then not really...easy to whittle down the trumpian nut jobs.  they at least are not discreet in their insanity.

happy that finally Democrats and Republicans are finally on the same team...at least the small percentage of Republicans who have seen the light as to how nuts Trump and company are. sadly, it is a very small percentage and many have already abandoned the party to become independents.

was raised in a GOP home and voted the first time i voted for GOP candidates...my vision for the world has evolved a great deal since those days and i left the party years ago. better to be non-affiliated for me. 

always love the black and whites.

as you can see we remain in a white wonderland here.  a bit chilly and breezy out there today.  

i'm feeling like i have a bit more freedom.  Ivy has free range in the house during the days and nights as well when i am at home. haven't been brave enough to leave her while i work.  having the pen worked well today as i put both dogs in there when the guy came from Moore Heating.

heater working fine, but the water heater is finally sprung a small leak so that will be replaced tomorrow. i knew it was probably on it's last leg.  have been on watch for a few years now. the thing lasted several years beyond expectation so i am happy with that. i'll have to clear room in the garage for the change.  hate spending money on such non-glamorous items but i do love having hot running water so i shall manage. 

will have to clear a path to the water shut off in case they need that.  there is a water shut off on the water heater or above it but i guess that isn't always enough.

northern lights shots taken with my iphone out my back door. 

still spend time in the bog.  i am putting her in the car for the second walk many days which i think she loves.  she is not a fan of the no pull harness, but it makes her more of a tugger than a puller. 

my knee still has it's moments so i'm not keen on being dragged.

got lucky and got one on call shift this week.  otherwise i worked the first night in the cardiac icu and then the last night i worked ER but ended up getting out of there at 5 am, which was really nice as well. 

gonna meet LS for a stretch here in a bit.  so i figured i'd bang out a little blog

feeling much better today.  good days and bad days for all of us.  i just am against pretending the bad days don't happy.  i think that makes other people more depressed, thinking they are the only ones having the bad days because there are so many out there who pretend their lives are perfect every day.  nobody's life is so i think it's probably better if we all just admit to good and bad days.  emotional moments of emotional wreckage.  

we all have times when we feel lonely and unloved or unlovable. better to just admit it together than suffer in silence.  give each other time and space to just be who we are and support each other through the bad, when we are having the good. 

this looks like Ivy screaming let me off the leash.  she so wants to run.  

not sure how much longer our lakes and ponds will be frozen.  we pretty much do the whole bog loop now, taking a trek through the pond bit.  more off leash friendly for Tusker. 

the ice sculptures are slowly melting.  the magpies are working on building nests.

i do some dog hair brushing out in the yard since i figure the wildlife will be thrilled to have the hair for their various nest.  great nesting material for babies or all sorts.  birds, squirrels or shrews.  

that is spring...eventually it means a bunch of babies being born.

we are at week 10 now. just a few more weeks to go.  thinking of renting a place at Lowell Point maybe in celebration.  get these dogs on a beach after all these weeks.

i am the worst at remembering details. always have been. names...terrible.  totally called a co-worker by a completely wrong name the other night.  so embarrassing.  

everyone does seem ready for our snow to melt.  with all this snow we will have snow with us for a long time.

reports of a helicoptor crash. the papers said the richest man in Chech died in the crash. sounds like he was here doing heliskiing.  no amount of money can save you in an accident.  life is an equalizer at some level. i've never been in a helicopter and have no desire to be in one.  the only way will probably be getting carried to a hospital...they will need drugs if i am coherent.  

i have been in many small planes, which scares many. i'm not without concern on those or any flying object but i'd still prefer a small plane to a helicopter. a small plane crashed the other day as well.  that is Alaska. 

this is the beach in Anchorage.

her sweet face!

will turn in my voter ballot today.  the to do list is ever present.  now i need to get on those taxes. 

that is coming up fast.  i need to send in the one for the tiny non-profit.  should check in...it's almost time for the crew to head out to round island...will there be camera's out there, guests?

i was pretty lazy yesterday.  we did get to the trails and to the store but i headed to bed pretty early.

no great lights since this night . you can actually see some purples in there, which is amazing for Anchorage with all our light. 

zipping through so i can get ready to walk.  what other errands for today?  hmm.  

it was chilly this night so it was nice to go in and out of the house to warm up. 

the lights often will wax and wane through the hours. 

cloudy this week.  

Ivy explores a snow cave

even the Covid Cat gets out there from time to time.  i think he likes to do his cat business under the deck.  not a bad thing really. 

that tail has remained totally fluffy

some times the clouds break and we get some blue skies and mountain views.  the sun is setting later though so not much for sunset shots of late.  too lazy to get out there and find it. 

so just a quick catch up.  life is better today.  worse other days.  trying to have a new plan for family.  accept what they give and expect much less.  step back and let them decide when they want to talk rather than trying to establish any kind of regular calls. clearly more than they want really.  

thankful for any and all who do want to have a continued relationship.  for some that means we just keep it totally surface as so many topics are off limits...that is the time we live in. 

thankful for A.  increased Ivy freedoms and thus increase human freedoms  B. continued healing for my girl and me.  C. on call nights where i don't get called in.