same place as yesterday, but a different look....

 it snowed overnight, so the kicksled will wait for another day i guess.  i did some loops in north bivouac.

 watching, "our idiot brother".  it's quirky and hilarious...love it so far!! okay...it just ended.  great flick!!

 anyway, we had a dusting of snow.  it's been cold so the ground is frozen up good so this snow is sticking.  supposed to be more coming soon.  my studs may not work.  was slipping around a bit.  could be me too though, gotta get used to driving in the winter again.

 my neighbors shoveled my driveway and front deck.  how nice is that!!  this guy in the movie, puts it out there, is nice, honest and overly trusting.  it gets him and everyone he knows in trouble, but as in life, it all works out in the end.

 lots of blossom pictures today.  her coat just so totally matches the brush around her.  so cute.  rio, as always was not easy to get pictures of.  she stays pretty close to me.  i think she enjoyed herself out there though.  she especially liked it in this center area.  no pesky roots to trip her up.  it was a bit tough walking out there.  with that dusting of snow you can't see the pesky roots so i was tripping up as well.  the snow also covered all that cool ice we were so carefully walking on yesterday.  i managed to stay upright.

 see what a perfect match her coat is to this brush...!!

 slept in today.  still i was the first tracks on most of the side trails out there. 3 hours sleep yesterday does catch up to you.

 i'm presuming these are fox tracks,  they were everywhere out there.  you can see who is going where on days like today.  so many animals out there you never really see, but in the winter they can't hide their activities as well.

 blossom seemed to enjoy following the scent of these tracks. i think that was why she lost her tennis ball.  it will become part of the land now i guess.  so many tennis balls out there.  so sad.

 also saw tracks of little shrew or whatever they are.

 rio is snoring away behind me.  i have the best dogs.

 more of blossom.

 had dinner out at the spenard roadhouse with friends...happy birthday sharon!! just got basics, pizza, salad and a nice sundae!! no soda...have been off for a few weeks now.   was tempted tonight to bend the rules, but i really think i should just go without.  really wouldn't mind losing a few pounds.  we shall see.

 love having clouds back.  i know i'm a freak. totally clear blue skies gets old for me fast.  the clouds just make it so much more interesting.

 more fox tracks sightings....so pretty out there today.  totally different than yesterday.

 before our walk yesterday i put a few tiny fake tattoo's on my face for the halloween themed walk.  after the walk and kaladi's and all that i headed over to the grocery store.  this is when i remembered i had them on my face still.  well, i remembered when the cashier said, "you must be a teacher".  well, i'm not a teacher, i'm just a middle aged woman who thought it would be funny to put little tattoo's on my face.  i didn't say that though, no i said i was a nurse in pediatrics.  surely that made me look less crazy.  today is halloween though so everything is acceptable.  i have to work.  bummer. i really do love to give candy out.  probably won't be many kids that arrive before i leave for work.  oh well.

 the kids have more to contend with trick or treating.  they are tougher in alaska as they say.  temperatures are supposed to be a bit low, like 15 and below.  also the news was reminding people to be watchful while trick or treating as the bears are still out and there are moose out there. there always seems to be some halloween moose stories.

 things are so much less fun it seems like to me, but kids still always find a way to find fun.  we just had so much more freedom.  we wandered the streets in kid gangs with our unfancy pillow cases going door to door.  the lives we lived were just so much less controlled by adults.  we ran free until it got dark or was time for dinner.  the kids now just have more controlled existences. i get the safety issues and all that, but something is definitely lost in that.

 it was changing when i was a kid though.  hospitals began opening their doors and allowing kids to bring in their bags of treats to be xray'd.  people were found putting metal slivers in candy.  people did still hand out homemade treats, but i remember my mom wouldn't let us eat anything that wasn't packaged in a factory. now i understand making treats for anything is not really acceptable.  so strange.  you just get older and the world changes.  eventually, i guess it changes too much and you get more ready to move on.

 more fox prints.  they were all over the place.

 this is in stumphenge.

 sat for a bite to eat earlier and a show was on about people who have been to heaven and back.  it's like it's the next thing to talk about.  it was also on the time or newsweek this past week.  one kid who was like 13 talked about his visit to heaven when he was like 4.  his dad is a pastor and he has a book out about his experience.  seems a bit strange that he would have enough material for a book or that his pastor family hasn't influenced his memory of this event.

 it's not that i'm anti heaven.  i have had a few patients who saw the light as it were and stated as such.  i've looked into patients eyes and knew their soul was elsewhere and then looked again and felt the soul was back.  i like the idea of a heaven and being reunited with family and pets and stuff.  maybe it's good this interest in heaven.  maybe it will help people in our country deal with death better.  to not fear it so much that they seem willing to torture their loved ones rather than let them go.  i think often one of the things god looks for is how compassionate we are in these situations.  are we selfish and hold onto family, despite the pain it may cause them or do we let them pass and feel the pain ourselves that comes with that loss.

 i don't know the details of what happens to us and i guess i really don't believe i have to.  i think i have faith that there is something else after this life and i just think you try to live a good life.  to be kind to others, to be honest, to live simply and to try not to take more than you give.  i liked the character in the movie i watched because he believed if you put good out there, good will come back.  i think that is true.  it's not about how much money you make or have.  god won't be in heaven with a calculator.  you may just feel the pain you have inflicted on others, be it through gossip or anger or hatred or unkindness.

 more fox tracks.  i think these big churches have a lot wrong.  i think it's more simple, which really makes it more complicated.  humans seem to like all the pomp and circumstance.  i don't think you need to attend weekly meetings to show god you are worthy of his love.  for me being in nature and taking notice of all the glory created for us and sharing it is sufficient.

 one lady was a doctor herself and so older when she had her heaven experience.  it seemed more real, but then they are all selling lots of books.  no idea if they keep the profits completely or what.  i like the message though that we are all perfect in gods eyes and that god loves each of us and is concerned for each of us.  nice to know someone is out there and on my side.

 it can be rough out there some days.

still, i'm not ready to leave earth and go to heaven just yet and i hope i have many more years to enjoy all the beauties of this earth.  well, who knows if i'll go to heaven or not.  it seems a lot of folks are pretty sure which way they will be going.  of course, those people often strike me as just the sorts that might not end up in heaven.  the afterlife will be an interesting place.  for now, i will go to bed and pray i wake in the morning at least as healthy as i was the night before.