hello strangers....

 

not sure i can catch up on a months worth of activities...it's been a busy stretch. 

i have enjoyed it all though.  i have had two trips to Homer, a trip to Seward, a float in a raft at Spencer Glacier and a trek to Kennicott....so very busy.  these are some fun rocks i painted, a few have been distributed on my travels.

some of these are the beginnings of Sept and some beginnings of August. i am, as usual, woefully behind. 

i had my niece and her family in for a week. they stayed here in Anchorage some and we all traveled to Homer and they stayed in Seward and i joined them for a boat trek out to look for wildlife and view glaciers. 

from there i worked 3 nights...two in the ER, almost exclusively Covid patients and then in the covid icu. after those 3 nights a friend flew in from CA and she just left to continue on to Sitka for a few days before heading south again. i head back to work tomorrow night.  

this little kitty had a bit of a wild ride.  she was a bit scared of the kids and kept hidden but has returned back out and with increased bravery.  even staying on the cat post as my friend walked past her on the way up the stairs. her cat aunt, N, even allowed her to stay near by...though she hissed when N got closer. Covid Cat was also very curious of the visitors and kept some distance but has increased in confidence. 

with my niece we started out with a mushroom walk.  they found some great finds out at North Bivouac. with I even finding a bonanza blue wood with loads of those most beautiful of tiny turquoise mushrooms. not too many bug bites thankfully. 

my injury, that was in the previous post, had caused quite a bit of pain and swelling, especially after being at work so i had called off and did ice and elevate and purchased ab ointment and dressings.  repeated that the entire week.  for days the leg swelling worsened through the day.  it is actually just now not tender at the bone to touch.  still slight puffy, but previously my entire leg was swelling. 

i think those who worried i'd get tetanus are free to stop worrying. doesn't appear to have become infected either so the twice daily dressing changes must have done the trick.  it did develop some horrific bruising as well. no sympathy required...i think it looked worse than it was in the end at least. i promise to try to avoid dropping doors on myself in the future. 

we headed to Homer the next day...of course, one of my favorite places.  we made several stops...first we saw belugas in Turnigan....had to stop for that. then we hit the Virgin falls in Girdwood.  we stopped for subways and ate them with a view of a glacier fed lake....a place i often stop at with the dogs for a stretch. 

it got settled at the Driftwood and they in their rental.  we met for early morning tide pooling.  we got very lucky with a rather low tide.  they were ready with boots and adventure in their hearts and they were rewarded well i think. 

we saw cool crabs and anemones and sea stars and all sorts of amazing intertidal creatures.  

they even saw an eagle capture an octopus.  Tusker headed off and chased the eagle away.  assuming the octopus was dead i waded out to scoop it out with the chuck it to examine...only to discover it was alive and grabbing the chuck it with it's tentacles. i was a bit surprised.  we all got a good look at him as he moved back into the water.  Ivy dropped a tennis ball on the poor guy, the kids called him Oscar. we hope he did well, he did have a rather large wound, but the tide was coming in and he was off and gone. 

amazing that the eagle spotted that octopus from some distance while humans standing near by didn't see it at all.  this last trip to Homer, i saw a woman who was looking around a large rock as the tide was coming in and she said there was an octopus den under there...something to watch for in the future. i did hear the other day there was a dead octopus on the beach, but i never saw it and the tide was coming in. we got really lucking those two days as the tide was in the negatives so many great finds. 

it was a beautiful sunset the night before. the second night we roasted hot dogs on a campfire on the beach.  i headed back the next day after more tide pool action and they headed to Seldovia for the day before moving to another rental in Seward.  despite the rain the next day i think they really enjoyed Seward.  i joined them for a boat trip out to view wildlife. 

there were the usual Resurrection Bay waves to contend with and some green gills, but no vomiting.  i think with eyes on the horizon and fresh air those afflicted were still able to enjoy some good wildlife sightings, including a dodgy humpback who put up a bit of a hide and seek game...making some gills even greener!

we all returned to Anchorage and headed to Hatchers the next day to explore the mine and then meet some musk ox.  i'd never been to the musk ox farm out there.  they are totally nice and everyone had fun.  these holidays pass by too quickly but it was so fun for me to get to spend time with SH and her family.  memories will last a lifetime.  hopeful for more visits in the future.  will be even more fun with out that bug Covid!!  

i returned to work and it was all covid, covid covid for three nights.  you can tell we are all over it and over those who continue to refuse to vaccinate and then expect us to just magically make their symptoms disappear.  i had a real whiner patient.  i was unkind at some point.  i did later apologize.  we are not staffed well enough that she could be rid of me...i suspect i looked pretty good compared to the ER nurse who followed me.  he had less patience with her shenanigans than i had. 

we would all love to see this beast in the rear view mirror or at least under some containment. still far too many fools out there.

i made a quick turn around as i had another guest coming.  clean the sheets and all that.  my friend arrived after i'd slept a few hours. 

we did a mushroom walk as well in a different location...keeping it interesting for the puppies.  haha. 

the next day we were off on the train with my friend SH.  the train went to Spencer Glacier where we boarded big rafts and were paddled around the lake ice before heading down Placer River for a lovely float. yes, we were paddled...we did not have to paddle. :-)  

after we'd paddled down river several miles the boats were pulled up and the train pulled back in to pick us all up.  dinner in Girdwood...we are sure the waitress was still drunk from the previous night.  very strong alcohol smell on that lass!

we came home and prepped because we were off to Kennikott the next day.  CR and I drove the 7 hours, 2 of it on dirt road to the edge of the river...where you cross the foot bridge and get shuttled to Kennicott.  we walked the dogs before we left in the bog and stopped for a few walks along the way 

always sad to leave the dogs behind but i had a good pet sitter lined up!  i did miss them though.  :-)

above is the door that fell on me.  

we made good time to Kennikott. the dirt road is just over 60 miles but we made it across in 2 hours. 

a few of the buildings looked a bit more unstable than last time i saw them...they were doing work to try to rehab the monster one. sunset was beautiful, i had tasty salmon for dinner.  and early to bed, tired from driving. 

bruised foot.  that is all healed now

the next day we got our packs ready and headed off to Root Glacier.  the signs say 2 miles but with receding of the glacier i suspect that sign is not correct.  i put in over 11 miles for the day, some of that was later when i walked up over the waterfall. my step counts have been quite high for these past few weeks. 

other than walking over slightly unstable rocks the trail is not one with a lot of elevation gain/loss. happy we had trekking poles and we changed into cleats before hitting the glacier part of the walk.  we walked a bit up the glacier. i actually stopped before she did and i put some ashes from my beloved pups of the past and left a painted rock with them

as we turned to head off the glacier i noticed people had already begun to take photo's of my little memorial.  not sure how long that rock stayed...it may have been snatched up before my feet were off the glacier.  it was a little kayaker rock.  

it started to cloud up a bit that night.  we headed out the next day.  we actually had pretty decent weather though. 

we had a chill day the day after we returned to Anchorage.  watched tennis, watched a movie and walked the dogs at the Airstrip.  

the next day we did the Reed Lakes trail to the beaver ponds and then walked a bit of Independence mine.  Kennicott is a copper mine, Independence was a gold mine. 

then prep for a return trip to Homer with a different guest.

i'm always happy in Homer.  the usual sunset at the beach after several stops heading down there.  

beautiful as usual.  

the tides the next morning were nothing like they had been but still found a few treasures.  it was a bit better the next day.  

my friend went for a paddle with a tour group and i was off for more beach time, shopping and a walk at the calvin and coyle trail or was that coyle and calvin trail.  can't recall. it's in town.  a nice and easy loop.  not too long but it was another walk for the dogs and more mushrooms for me to find. 

i bought another art piece that i liked.  i do still have some wall i can use.  

we drove back yesterday after i got my second day of tidepool action in.  we stopped at Clam Gultch. i'd never stopped there but it was pretty and for sure i will add it to my list of possible beach stops in the future.  

it just takes longer and longer to drive to Homer now with each year as i find new favorite places down there. 

my friend caught a cab to the airport in the early hours so i said my goodbyes before i headed to bed.  

now i head back to lovely work for more covid fun i guess.  i'm so excited!

we are out of Afghanistan....it was long overdue.  no matter who did it, it was going to be a mess. my heart breaks for the horror that may come to those left behind there.  it was the right thing to do and i do applaud Biden for being the only one with the guts to actually do it.  trump said he would but all he did in the end was set up Biden by making a deal with the taliban to exit...oddly, that meeting did not include anyone in the government we had set up...what was really promised we may never know.  a timeline was set but it was set for after the election....would trump have followed through? if he did even less Afghan residents would have been allowed out.  trumps racist senior advisor quietly did the dirty work for him...they created barriers that have made it more difficult for those who helped us in Afghanistan to get to the USA.  such a jerk that Miller is.  

the "transition" could have been far worse and they were able to get over 100,000 out in those last weeks.  i promise you, trump would have only gotten out US citizens.  Biden was willing to be the fall guy in order to get us out.  

the whole thing is a stain on us all.  there is plenty of blame to go around on all sides of this. 

sorry for the bloody graphics....can't figure out how to delete a few of these.

the mushrooms are nice though

the valley, north of here, has the lowest vaccination rate in the state and their feed stores are out of ivermectin...i think that is all you need to know. if you are out there protect yourselves. 

not sure what i will find at work. how many more have quit? what is the current staffing ratio's? how many unvaccinated covids are taking up icu beds....

sunset in Kennicott.  these always get mixed up together. 

this was from this last trek down the tide was in so no swing for me. i tried one of the other swings, then i fell out of it.  not graceful at all. i had taken SH and family here as well, which was fun.  

on the drive to Kennicott

fall colors are actually feeling slightly late but that could also be because i have not gone north this year. i better head off to bed. need to write a little note from WARIS...EW, who manages the sanctuary is retiring so it will be a few months before we know who will take over for him.  hope it's someone who loves and fights for the sanctuary.

thankful for A.  an amazing visit with first time visitors the H family...please come again! B.  a record 5th visit to AK by CR! always fun and C.  safe travels for all!