i am competent again

 more from my drive to Denali National park and back...saw this pair of moose across the street from where the dogs and I stay at a Hostel there.  thought these were just sweet pictures.

 never get bored of the big mountain.  you kind of circle around it doing this trek.  so this is from inside the park.  a different view.

 lots of bikers out that day i was there.

 saw this ptarmigan crossing the road...to get to the other side of course.  i feared it would be my only animal sighting in the park.

 every year i go it's different. some times i see groups of caribou or a few moose

 this year i saw a bear.  thankfully it was from a safe distance, good for me post fall bear encounter.  not sure i'll ever trust sleeping in my car again after waking to a grizzly trying to get in.  i do try and remind myself that it was fall and bears get hungry and that particular bear was acclimated to humans and to cars having food inside.  the odds of a repeat on that particular bear scare are small.  still not a pleasant way to die.

 i've been pretty happy with myself for getting out and doing my usual walking and such.  this year i have been carrying both bear spray and a small air horn.  on occasion i debate getting a gun and getting trained for that one time when a bear is rushing me.  not sure i'd be quick enough to draw a gun,get the safety off and fire in the right direction.  it may just waste precious time.  overall, as scary as bears can seem, they tend to just want to avoid human contact...unless they are acclimated as the bear that tried to get in my car or desperate, which was probably also the case.  anyway...the point of that rambling was that i knew there was a bear down on the rivers edge and instead of turning back immediately i opted to just face my anxiety over the situation and continue on cautiously.  a sign of healing..or stupidity i guess.

 met up with Lena for a walk today...still safer in numbers.  also still no black bear sighting in the tree which she has had her den for several years now.  they suspect she may have some new baby cubs in the hollow of the tree with her.  i've been seeing the photographers lying in wait right below the tree.  she's tolerated this in the past, but with fresh cubs they would probably be wise to stand back a bit.  i wouldn't make that suggestion though..i find that people generally know when they shouldn't be doing a thing and could care less if that means they are putting themselves at risk or others at risk or just plain breaking some law...those things just don't apply to them.  it's the age of entitlement.

 we just did a semi muddy loop out in North Bivouac.  i had the hospital competency fair to attend so i had limited time for the walk.  was happy to have Lena along.

 of course, as we were talking i realized there had been a meeting of friends of Mcneil and after the more entertaining part of the meeting, a speaker, they'd had a more business type meeting.  not sure what day it was, i think it probably did land on my procedure day...but those are the sort of things i really should be looking for and making an effort to attend.

 face time with people who are running other non-profits could be good contacts for help getting this walrus group going.

 above is looking out from the teklanika rest area.  if you make the picture above bigger you will see the bear off in the distance closer to the bridge.  i usually walk with the dogs down to at least that bridge, of course, the bear being down there kinda changed my plans.  we got pretty close though.

 i stool above this bear for a bit just watching him go about his business and rummage for roots to eat.

 always just cool to watch wildlife in the wild.

 so i was quite happy with my grizzly bear sighting.

 heard again from the director of fish and game.  i do like that he actually responds to my emails.  i was asking about camera surveillance on the island to protect walrus and possible help catch poachers.  doesn't sound like that will be part of the plan at this time.  does seem like everyone is directing me to the palmer hayflats group.

 still some leftover fall colours out there.

 always love the dried up seed pods

 and of course, signs of new life

 so competency fair was about 5 hours long for me today.  about half of that in the adult icu fair part and the rest in the house wide fair.  the ACC one had extra training in things like opening up a sternal incision to do internal chest massage and manage a patient who is post open heart surgery who code, also the usual ventricular drain/monitoring for brain injuries and tips on how to prone ventilated patients...it's what i do.

 got paid for the time there and got some chat time in with people.  i have been here many years and so i know quite a few folks from all over.  so fun to see all the various folks and catch up a wee bit. not too much chatting time today. i was about getting it done.

 the sun is setting later and later.  i think tomorrow sunset is at 10:01 or something.  i don't get as many sunrise/sunset pictures.  it just means going back out there later at night.  i have ordered a bike rack and do hope to get out on the bike a bit. i've been terrible this stretch off about the gym and swimming...transition time in my activities...always the walking of course.

 here are just more pictures of the moose and her calf from last year. she'll stick with mom this summer and get booted out in the fall perhaps.

 if they survive.

 they really are cute

 i loved those pictures of the other pair i posted last night going up that snowbank.  it is really amazing how much power they have. someone posted a video of a mama black bear and her cub somewhere far south of here, but they were basically rock climbing.  it was pretty treacherous but they made it.  looked pretty sketchy, especially for the baby.  it was filmed from below, some people were kayaking in the river below.  pretty cool.

 if you are out in nature enough you are bound to see some cool stuff.  won't see it for sure sitting in your house.

 more raking in the yard this evening.  i was out at 9 pm raking.  it's what you do.

 most of my lawn area is free of snow.  still ice below some leaves and the ground is starting to thaw out.

 today on our walk we'd take a step and then the ground would buckle under us.  signs of thawing.

 poor Rio had a time of it between the icy/snowy bits and the roots and mud.  i showed up to the competency fair all covered in mud...that would be me i guess.  always a mess, never fashionable.  i will happily admit that i prefer my hiking boots to high heels.

 my friend val may come and stay here and watch my critters while i'm in Ketchikan.  i think it would actually be relaxing for her in a way.  that would be a huge relief to me to know that they will be taken care of.  she'll check dates and times.  having a household full of animals can make vacations a wee bit more stressful.

 beautiful drive back from Denali the other day and it's nice cause it's staying light later and later, which makes little road trips easier.

 my new work glasses are apparently ready to be picked up so i'll have to try and stop by and get those.  i could try wearing them for a bit during this stretch of work.  overall my eyes are still really good. i have my driving glasses as night driving can tire out my eyes.  occasionally reading glasses and now i'll try these.  the monitors in the rooms can be just a wee bit blurry and i'm trying progressives in hopes i can transition from the monitor screens to the computer screens better with those.  who knows.

 i am tired though.  this doing nothing is exhausting...okay i actually did do a few things today.

 a few parting sunset shots from the drive home.

thankful for...1.  having access to many beautiful places 2.  so many fine co-workers, past and present.  3.  continued good health...not everyone is so blessed.  good night