election 2012....

 i had such good intentions to get a litany of list items accomplished, but instead i got sucked into the election.

 i voted.  the sticker always goes on the retractable leash. i always seem to vote on the way from or to a walk with the dogs.  by the next election the last sticker has worn off.  of course, they have never seemed to change the sticker design.  if it ain't broke i guess. when i was in to vote a woman came in to request a sticker as hers had gotten lost and she wanted to proudly display that she had voted today.  so sweet!!  i'm always touched by the little things.  it's such an important thing, voting. i'm happy that there was seemingly a good election turnout.  always makes my heart happy.

 it was close...a bit of a nail biter.  so far no word of lawyers getting involved and voting issues really which is a relief.  of course, the election was decided before the polls even closed here in alaska.  the concession speech and acceptance speech were given before we even had half our ballots tallied.  that is how it is here in the alaskan time zone.  we also have only 3 electoral votes which always go to republicans.  florida which always seems to be a mess stopped counting and went home to bed.  so the actual election results could be weeks in coming.  President Obama is in for another 4 years.

 i'm never one to be gung ho about any politician, but i was not wanting romney to win.  in my opinion the republican party has been taken over by the religious right and this makes people such as myself that hang in the middle, moderate area nervous.  they go on about their religious freedoms.  we have religious freedom in our nation, but they seem to want to make everyone else follow their religious beliefs.  that is where they are getting in trouble. i don't have any desire to become some christian taliban state.  their over reaching has unnerved the middle.  those tea party folks are nuts! some guy wrote on facebook something about Obama turning this in to a muslim state.  really?  why didn't he already do that in his first 4 years, why wait and battle it out for a second term to turn us into this muslim state. he's not muslim.  besides, there are plenty of muslims here and they have freedom of religion like the christians do.  so far they have not tried to turn us into a muslim state either. i suspect many come here to be able to practice their religion the way it was meant to be lived.

 there are some republican values that i am aligned with at times, but sadly those values have gotten lost in that party.  they are going to have to re-evaluate how they run their party or get used to losing elections.  all those slip ups about rape. ridiculous and embarrassing.  for a party that wants to align itself with god and christianity they do not behave very charitably to the other people they share these lands with. they are more about money than people.  i have read the scriptures and i don't see jesus turning away people who need medicine or denegrating those who are poor and acting like they are all slackers who just wait for a government handout.  i have known many of our poor who work many hours a week at 2-3 jobs and still can't make ends meet.  not because they aren't willing to work, but because they are working in unskilled labor.

 i try not to post anything political on facebook because it gets brutal.  on my blog though i can just choose to  delete comments that get too rude or angry.  this is just my opinion.  i did vote our republican don young back.  he's been in forever so we have more power keeping him there really. so i am independant in my voting.  people who blindly vote party lines, or even i knew a woman who voted for all the women on the ballot no matter what.  i remember just being flabbergasted.  really, you don't even look at how they think or vote, you just say female and check the box.  sad.  it's your vote though.  i have my vote and so far nobody has taken that away from me. i'm just always surprised how heated some people get and how convinced they are that they are totally right and no other way of thinking is possible.  4 years ago i was told by one sibling that another siblings kids had voted for Obama, but it was just cause they are immature and when they get older they'll vote republican.  really.  these "kids" are in their mid 20's to mid 30's.  i think they have valid opinions...and by the way i voted for him last time as well.  at this i got a 5 min tirade, which i actually timed on my cars clock.  it's not enough to just listen to yourself ramble on about this crap..it actually helps to listen to the person you are bloviating to  every so often.

 anger prevents listening though.  i still believe people get more rabid when their lives in general are unhappy. if you can't or won't address the issues in your own life you find power in battling issues that can't fight you back.

 see, i should never sit and watch election results come in.  next year i must stick to a plan.  not sure if you can see the moon in the shot above but it's funny at this time of year. the moon is much higher in the sky than the sun at 11:30 am.  so strange.  in the summer it's just the opposite.

 today i just rambled the old rondy trail/tour of anchorage.  i don't walk this direction very often.  not much of a scenic trek. always good to change it up though i guess.  see if anything is happening in another direction. the dogs really could care less which direction we head, they just want to be walked.  dogs are lovely and uncomplicated.

 did see what i believe was an owl flying past fairly low, but i lost track of it before i could get the camera out .  the trail goes over a few bridges.  at the second bridge it looked like an ice jam had broke loose higher up the  creek and caused a flood. this had then iced over.

 there really are no ugly walks up here.  some bear bread on the trees.

 cracked ice from the overflow.

 that is our nation...a big ice jam waiting to break up and overflow.  something has to give.  too many who are unwilling or unable to compromise and work together. i would not like government work.  it would be so frustrating and unfulfilling.

 my long noon shadow.

 more of the ice jam.

 was out for a few hours, might have stayed longer, but i had to pee. haven't braved peeing in the woods with the teds..could be tricky.  once home i settled in.  shoulder feels a bit sore at this time so that kept me out of the pool today.

 more bear bread.

 still some bears wandering around out there.  they can get troublesome trying to get those last meals in before falling into a deep sleep.

 small blip in paper today.  a man in pakistan killed his 15 year old daughter because she dishonored the family by turning to look at a guy on a motorcycle.  these men must completely not bond with their kids. how could you do this to a family member, it's just so horrible. he doused her with acid.  horrible.

 bones of a beached whale and it's baby were found in new zealand.  turns out it's a whale so rare nobody has ever seen a live one.  it's called a spade-toothed beaked whale...that is a lot of name.  someone really should fix that, maybe they'd turn up more if they had a cooler name.

 a few parting shots of the kids.  such cuties...

hopefully i haven't offended anyone with my words today...but then again.  i can't begin to say how many anti obama things i've seen posted on facebook by christian family and friends that have offended me.  i quietly click "hide".  i would say easily the most offensive posts i saw were from the romney side.  sad. people should keep their hatred in check.  i remember my mom would always correct me if i said i hated anything.  she would say, " you don't hate it, you strongly dislike it, but you don't hate". of course in her later years that hate thing slipped out of her mouth on many occasions.  hopefully, the good people elected to work in the government will try and work together instead of continuing to put roadblocks up at every turn.