mostly mushrooms....

 clearly i am addicted to taking mushroom photos.  they are just so much fun.  i don't even have to stray far from the trail, this time of year these guys are everywhere.

 they just fascinate me.

 the bright colours and shapes and some of them are just huge really.

 some are also tiny.

 this one below is a good 6 inches across at least.

 of course today i was getting so focused on the fun of the mushrooms that i almost crossed paths with a moose.  i became aware enough to notice a rustling sound.  a large bull moose was feeding fairly close by..not too close, but close enough that i should have noticed him before then.

 guess the moose had charged a labrador that had ran towards it.  they were kinda obnoxious dogs i guess.  but the guy said the moose barely charged the dog and then just stopped.  so it really wasn't too concerned.  tried to get some pictures, but really not the best opporunity as the moose was behind lots of brush and branches.  was happy to not disturb him though.  he was really pretty big.

 rio sniffed out another moose as we approached little campbell lake, seemed like it must be near the road so i looked as i drove out.  sure enough, rio's sniffer was right on.  there was a younger bull moose by the road. sadly, the thing was hobbling pretty good and his back right leg was pretty swollen.  broken perhaps...no idea.  not sure if it will make it through the winter.  it was feeding well.  city moose so it may have a chance to heal.

 i did see a few large bear scats out there though so weak moose are frequently targets of bears trying to fill up before winter sets in.

 one bear scat looked pretty huge and pretty fresh so that caught my attention. started making more noise.  by the end of summer i can occasionally get a bit jittery about the bears.  will be ready for a break from bears for the winter soon enough.

 a bit stressed today and ruminating.  chatted with a friend to talk me  down a bit.  i try to be nice, but not sure what to do sometimes in certain situations.  am i in the right or wrong?  always good to analyze actions and see if you can or should handle something better or different.  reacting can be a bad thing, but i am human and i do react to things.  clarity can be hard to come by and we often don't know the whole story.  best to not judge a situation, but also best to not get sucked in to a situation either.  perhaps things will be clearer in the morning...or they could be worse.  distractions are good.

 we actually had blue skies for much of the day, which was great.  by this evening it was drizzling a bit again.  i stopped by tequilla for dinner.  felt like serrano's taco's.

 this morning as i left work there was a moose by the parking lot.  cute photo of it eating off trees in front of the hospital.  i held up traffic briefly to get my shot, but this is alaska, get used to it, we stop for moose photography.  hehe.

 had my annual evaluation, which i actually just had a few months ago since my old boss neglected to do an annual evaluation and my new boss had to whip one out.  so this one was a bit shorter.  got a list of all the places i've floated to, which is kinda cool to look through . mostly i am in the adult icu and the pediatric icu.

 last night i was working as a aide in the renal care unit.  pretty easy work for my regular pay, plus minimal charting and no stress.  i wasn't responsible for a patient load as i usually am as a nurse.  wouldn't want to do that all the time, but it is nice to get a break.  even taking all the vital signs on 6 patients all night was less vital signs than i had to take the night before on my one patient in the adult icu.

 love the colours and the little white flecks on the tops of these.

 the sunset looked like it was pretty with the rain clouds and then a big rainbow on the mountains. so pretty.

 no matter what stress comes to my life i can usually walk it off, or talk it off. i  live in a beautiful place.  i am so grateful for that.

 below is the before of the mushroom above.  they pop out all over.

 hit the bog yesterday.  a few mushrooms out there.  don't think i've loaded any of those pictures.  didn't stop very often though.  just kept the dogs walking.

 blossom off exploring.  we did walk pretty slow between rio and me stopping for photo's.  got some nice hills in though, which is always great exercise.

 the aide that followed me today kept asking me if i'd minded being an aide last night. not sure if she felt like i would have felt offended or something.

 she seemed pleased that i wasn't offended to be placed in i guess what others would see as a lower position.  hell, i was getting paid nurses wages so what do i care.

 i think sometimes it's good to do other peoples jobs on occasion just to remind you what they do and how they should be treated.  i've seen some nurses who are horrible to aides.  i told this aide today a story that has always stuck with me.

 years ago i was working on the floor in ketchikan.  i remember this one nurse was walking quickly up and down the various halls.  she seemed to be on a mission.  after a bit i finally caught up with her and asked her if she needed something.  she said she was looking for the aide.  i said i could help, what was it she needed.  she huffed that the patient in room whatever wanted a cup of coffee.  now she'd been seeking for this aide for over 10 minutes i swear.  i was flabbergasted...why hadn't she just gotten the damn cup of coffee herself?  some nurses out there feel that certain jobs are beneath them.  apparently getting coffee was one of those jobs in this nurses mind.

 it just made me realize that aides and others out there must have to put up with some crap some days. the story pops in my mind from time to time as a reminder to be respectful to everyone and not act like i am above doing any task.  we are all there to take care of the patients and make their hospital stay short, as pleasant as possible and safe.

 working my way through the chips and salsa.  nummy!!

 so much better than cooking sometimes.

 was trying to show how large these mushrooms are.  just used the small camera...like the size of a cell phone.

 this is a side view of those mushrooms above.

 got my friends wedding day off.  whew....now i feel like less of a terrible friend...though some may think i am a terrible friend.  in the end...not everyone will like you i guess.  you just hope enough people see the good in you and forgive the bad.

 an early mushroom sighting today.  it was already knocked over so i flipped it around to get different angles.

 just love all the ridges underneath.  fungi are fabulous...right!!

 i think a lichen is a fungi combined with an algea?  i always forget that. lichens are cool too.

 i will turn in soon.  got some new movies which may be a good distraction.

 chatted with my old high school friend marcia the other day.  always great to catch up with her.

 a fungi family....

 still some remnants of the rainy week we've had.  the sun was out but it really wasn't that hot.  felt great.  50's and 60's.  perfect weather in my opinion.

 hard to get pictures of these tiny fungi.

 this was another of those jumbo sized ones.

 more ridges.

 not sure what i'll do tomorrow.  fair maybe.  we shall see.  haven't been for a few years and some friends are going.  another good distraction i'd say.

 this was a super tiny mushroom.  thought it turned out cool.

i'm sure i got a bit muddy mucking around taking mushroom shots but i had fun.  i'm easily entertained really.  have a good day...