the car just looks cooler with a kayak on top

 mixture of shots...summer!!  various walks and the trip to Tutka.  lots of pictures to share...

 two days in a row  with some sweet walks.  today speedy joined me for a walk down to the beach.  always a great walk.

 this is Cheney Lake. it's one of those places i can walk to from the house.  looked a few houses around here before i settled on my place.  it's worked out well.

 i have the bog right by the house.

 i have had some nice walks in between shifts in this place.

 moose butt...

 has been raining off and on...but thankfully, my walks have been sunny.

 this was a day i ended up walking late down the trails by Elmore Rd.  not very exciting, but at least i got out.

 the forever flower....meaning when the earth is all but dead all life will begin again from dandilions and cockroaches.  the mosquito's may well survive the end too.

 moose fences.  they build fences by roads and at times these moose 'gates'show up.  the moose can get off the road way but can't get back onto the roadway with these.  never actually seen a moose using one to get out of traffic.

 wild roses.

 watched a few TedTalks today.  was gravitating towards talks about how to be a leader and a communicator since i may be needing some skills with this non-profit.  thinking i've got my articles and bylaws done. sent them off to several folks to look over.  i'm sure i will get some negative feedback...i am expecting it.  it's a good thing though.  in the end i will make the decisions because nobody else wanted to take this on.  i want to involve people though and i do want to get input.  i have never written bylaws before.

 everyone does have opinions i'm sure and it's a good exercise for me to listen to others.

 talks about leadership.  i've never taken any business classes but i don't think that will be a huge factor.  a lot of what was being said was just about grit. sticking with something.  being willing to think outside the box, to work with people and groups that may seem like they would be adversaries.  being open i think to all possibilities and just taking that leap of faith.

 i think you also have to be able to accept that failure is possible and take the chance anyway.  i liked the line from one talk, "failure isn't a permanent condition".  with WARIS i have come to understand that i really can't do any harm by trying and may have a chance of doing a lot of good with some effort.  i may fail, but i think the chance is better that i don't fail.  actually, i doubt i will fail, more that i may not reach the intended goal/hope of being able to keep staff on the island.  thankfully there are other goals as well.

 another speaker was talking about leaders who lead by almost treating their company like  a family.  he was saying if people feel safe they tend to work better.  kind of like everyone is in it together and outside of the corporation is the danger that must be faced and conquered together.  a line i liked from that talk was, "a leader is a choice, not a rank".

 Blossom in one of her mud soaks.  she had a fun day out walking today getting all muddy on the beach.  i suspect i ruined her fun a bit when i stopped by Monster Wash (a car wash with 2 dog wash rooms).  she got a bath.  she is all fluffy and smelling sweet.  smell is in the nose of the beholder though and i suspect that what smells great to humans is quite offensive to dogs.  we are the ones obsessed with clean not dogs.  i'm sure she was quite happy with that stinky dog odor.  no doubt she will find some way to re-stinkify herself as soon as possible.

 Had dinner with my other Amy friend tonight.  always fun . we just hit outback steaks.  occasionally i like a bit of the beef.  got some ribs...i may eat those once a year if that.  tasty.

 another speaker from this morning spoke of the 7 sins of speaking.  they were: gossip, Judging, Negativity, Complaining, Excuses, Lying and Dogmatism.  i would agree those are all annoying.  the last one is one i have dealth with a great deal and it is annoying.  people often confuse facts with opinions..or they just believe that everything that comes out of their mouth should be written on golden plates as it were.

 i tend to just avoid the negative, isn't there enough of that just turning on the news.  i think negativity includes things like gossip/judging/complaining and excuses.

 had maddie for a few hours one day.  we cruised over the University Lake.

 someone said this was a young raven, it was just sitting on this tree.

 have been there a few times.  U-lake.

 view of my car with the kayak from my upstairs window.

 more bog shots on a different day.

 tons of magpies out there, they sure can be cranky....i'm sure they are just protecting nests, but they are loud.  actually cracks me up.  i find myself chatting with them as i walk past.  they are some of the most dramatic birds.  birds are often  have great dramatics.

 liked the light coming through on this one

 the drive down to Homer.  just had to use the kayak in the pictures a few times.

 just had to snuggle with Blossom. she's just so dang cute.

 Rio has an appointment about her tail, which still hasn't healed.  not sure what we will do about it, maybe nothing.  gotta get some more ear meds for Blossom too.  haven't been able to find hers since i got back from Ketchikan.

 usually a pretty drive down on the Kenai....some days more beautiful than others though.

 there is the Kenai River

 a good salmon run will bring in many,many fishermen

 we stayed with my friend Cathy, her house has some incredible views.  we could see a different volcano out of her various front windows. pretty awesome!!

 the views that night were of Mt Augustine, Mt Iliamna and Mt Reboubt.  there are 5 volcano's that are very active right now...we generally do not have that many at one time getting ready to sputter.  they are all out on the Aleutians.

 the rest of these are back in Misty.  will blend stuff up

 i can see a slight shift in the light.  it's starting to not be light for quite as long as it had been.  it's probably only a few minutes, but it's happening.

 our guides.  they are getting married and wanted us to try and get some shots of them together.  i think we got some fun ones.

 Scott

 a little game of frisbee..the disc was never lost out there.  it came close a few times though

 nice mid air capture...haha.

 my paddle buddy, Janet

 at one of our break spots, several of us girls decided it was time for a good hair wash up.

 the water is always cold but it really does feel great to wash your hair after several days without. Sandra isn't complaining too much about the cold water.

 the view ain't bad either.  this would probably be nicer at some tropical location. i don't seem to do tropical though.

 me above and Tanya below.

better go crash.  more to do tomorrow.  thankful for 1.  a clean dog...so lovely 2.  chilling with good friends 3.  cool breezes