break up and more geese...

 stopped by potters marsh to see what was happening out there.  this time of year you could go every day and see something new. birds pass through en route to other locales and seems like a good percentage of those guys stop through potters for a bite to eat and a rest.  it's a birders paradise right along a busy highway.
one of my favorite pictures today were these ice shots.  lots of photographers out there, but they seem to get focused on this bird and that bird...there is always so much more going on in any place. i'm sure the other photographers find me odd with my small lenses, lack of tripod and lack of dedication to what they see as the show in town.  i told the one guy..."i write a blog, i walk and i post pictures of what i see".

 this random shot is actually from the other day.  thursday before work i headed to jodphur loop.  still a few skiers out there, but the trail is getting pretty bad.  i feel it's cool for me to take my dogs there at this point.  in the winter those trails are ski only...i dare anyone to yell at me for having dogs on a ski only trail this time of year.  this bald eagle nest is close to kincaid so i always look up to see if the baldie is chilling in there or not....that day he/she was.

 hundreds of snow geese chilling at potters this week which continues to draw a great deal of attention.

 i also sighted this pair of geese.  these are greater white fronted geese....or that is what it appears to me to be.  i'm not a birder.  so from what i could tell we had 3 types of geese out at potters today as we also had canadian geese out there.  i've never seen these guys before.  love their chest markings,  very cool.

 honestly, i may have seen them, but i may not have noticed them amongst other geese or birds.  who knows?

 they are stuffing themselves..this guy got a bit messy, mud diving for food.

 a few more ice photos.

 i am a bit sleepy today...three nights down.  i was in the adult icu all three.  all three nights i had an admit bed.  amazingly 2 of 3 nights i never filled that bed.  shocking really.  pleasant nights with good co-workers.

 one patient last night managed to offend me within minutes of my introducing myself to him.  the first thing he asked after i introduced myself almost was what my husband does for a living.  so i said i have no husband.  i should just make up some fictional spouse as it would make people more comfortable.  once they know you are unmarried they set out to find out what is wrong with you or encourage you to get on it and find yourself someone to take care of you.

 he said something about needing to find someone to take care of you when you are old....i joked that it was too late i was already getting old.  at this point he looks at my hands and then says, "well looking at your hands i'd guess you at 52".  really...!!! what idiot tries to guess a womans age!!  no wonder his wife of 45 years up and left him one day.  so i apparently have old looking hands.  who knew.  i laughed with some co-workers about this rude comment and then i told them i thought the guy should be kinder to the person who will shortly be taking out his urinary catheter.  the one doc there joked that those could be removed without deflating the balloon.  of course, i would never do that...but really!!  i never!!

 on a side note i find that there are no guarantees that if you get married there will be someone to take care of you when you get older...nor is having children any sort of guarantee of this.  mostly, it seems that women live longer than men so the female partner wears herself out taking care  of said ill husband who then dies and  leaves female to care for self.  children mostly move on to their own lives and may or may not take care of you in your later years.

 river otter?  not sure what these guys really are.  cute though.  not sure what they do all winter, hibernate?  he was out enjoying the day and i'm sure the photographers got loads of pictures of him.

 a few birds flying around out there today.  love to see those wings outstretched.

 i was quite happy today.  it was the first day i only wore knee high ted hose and i walked 4 miles at powerline pass with the dogs and then wandered around potters.  so far so good.  there is still a knot in my thigh.  not sure what that is all about.  seems to slowly be getting smaller so hopefully it will eventually go away.  must be surrounded by a bundle of nerves which get compressed from time to time and send a little pang of pain.  overall though.  i'm not really needing anything for pain for my leg anyway.

 my legs got tired on todays walk...but it seemed more like a "you fat bitch, you are so out of shape" kinda soreness. this is something i plan to address over the next several months with longer and more strenuous walks and exercise.  time to get the fat bitch back in shape.

 more marsh shots.

 of course there are ducks out there and seagulls and shorebirds.  everyone is joining in on the potters party.

 another random shoe shot.  did some kid toss it's shoe over the boardwalk...is some kid now wandering around with only one green boot?

 standard bird house shot.

 some religion discussions last night...always interesting.  we all had some time to chat, which is always welcome.

 ice reflections

 sandpipers of some sort.

 then i heard the unique call of the sandhill cranes.  a group of 7-8 of them flew over.  that call is so amazing.

 just finished, "beyond the bear" by dan bigley and debra mckinney.  i quite enjoyed it.  dan was mauled by a bear and lost his sight because of it.  this was his story.  overall, well told, interesting and i'd say inspiring.  people adapt to anything and if you can take something so life altering and not just adapt but find a way to thrive and be happy it's beyond impressive.  sometimes the trauma is almost a gift in that it puts life in perspective.

 my only negative about the book was that in the middle of the book it's mentioned that the state i think was sued.  it was just so odd. it didn't say whether the case was won or how much or anything..it was just so out of place.  so random.  it didn't fit with the rest of the tone of the book.  overall bigley speaks of having no ill will towards the bear and even speaks of not blaming anyone, that he was just unlucky and in the wrong place at the wrong time.  so why the law suit.  also, i'm sure his insurance didn't cover all, but through the reading of this book you definitely get that he came from a family of some means.  he spent a great deal of his recovery time at his families second home.  a place they call "arboleda".  my home doesn't have a name nor do i have a paid caretaker for the property.  not to mention all the new age treatments he received.
i hate to begrudge anyone who's been through such a thing money to get back to a productive and happy life, but at the same time, it just seemed almost distasteful that what seems like a frivolous lawsuit came from this.

 anyway, i just found it baffling that it was mentioned at all.  seemed to have no bearing on the rest of the story.

 always so cool to watch so many birds at once in flight.

 i know these look so much the same, but they are also so different.

 the dogs are pretty wiped out now.

 love to watch dogs  sleep...they so fully rest.

 fire island in the background.

 this guy had a few things on his mind.

 i'll have to find a new book to read now.  did love that he was so honest and humorous about life after his bear attack.  does give you some insight into the world of those who are blind.  he was also honest about the frustration and annoyances that got to him from time to time.

 sleeping lady.

 sunset the other day.  too wiped to head out to a favorite viewing spot.

 blossom out on the jodphur trail.  rio went as well that day.

 between shifts i hit the bog one day and just cruised up patterson and back the next day.  i'm attracted to not only random shoes i find but also random gloves and the strange things that appear when the snow begins to melt.

 the center pond in the bog is no longer walkable.

 not sure where this thing blew in from.

 i'm guessing this little knitted thing is for a human baby?  not sure.

 it was pretty tiny.

 these are from today.  as you can see it was clear skies and beautiful.  lots of folks out there today.  ran into bob, tanya and maddie. recognized them from quite a ways off.  we stopped and chatted while the dogs played for a bit.

 blossom did double what we did of course.  we went as far back as the bridge.  of course, i was unable to find the bridge. i think it's still buried in snow.  if you'd never been here before you would probably not know there was a creek running through the valley.  break up hasn't exactly hit the hillside of anchorage yet.

 this is the route up little omalley.  there are a few skiers coming down who must have walked up with all their gear.

 don't think i got on the trail until after 3pm.  slept in a bit...thank you blossom

 got back to late to hit the pool so that was why i headed to potters instead.  may as well extend this day.  love the longer days....

 rio did great. that is a bit of a longer walk for her, but she is a trooper of course.

 a first for me on the trails.  i left their dog poop bag for pick up on the return trip.  some dog had pee'd all over the dang thing.  yuck!  then i wondered if perhaps it had been indy or boddhi...if they smelled their dog buddies would they pee on the bag?  i don't know dog social structure enough to guess at this.  many dogs out there so it could have  been anyone.

 yes, these are the sorts of things a person with my life ponders.

 loved the colour of these needles.

 sleeping lady from the glen alps trail system

 me reflected in water at potters.

 i am wiped out...not sure what i'll be up to tomorrow.  if it's a bluebird day perhaps i'll do a marathon drive north.  the forecast for denali is more snow though so i may wait til my next stretch of days off.

 from the rail tracks across from potters.

good night....