freebies in the front yard...

 will they still be there tomorrow?  you never know.  when i clean/purge i tend to just put a pile up front and see what happens to it.  what doesn't find it's new home may find itself tossed or taken to value village.  prefer free though.

 these are in Fairbanks and from the drive home as well.  stopped in Anderson as i'd only seen it in the darkness so i wanted to check it out.

 just 2 nights since i was on call.  i worked PCU one night and then i worked ICU or CTICU as it's called.  my one patient was somewhat confused and talking all sorts of silliness.  she recognized me from before.  sadly, i am not the confused one but she is just familiar.  should i be worried about my own short term memory. haha.  her husband recognized me as well.  thankfully, they both seemed happy that i was there.  not sure what unit i took care of them in.  i suspect it may have been the ER but i move around so much...who knows.

 interesting note...i was on call the other night, never got called in.  i guess the secret service had showed up at our hospital before the POTUS visit and the hospital had put a room in the ICU on hold in the event the POTUS needed care while he was in the state.  could i have been the one called in to care for him that night if some awful thing happened?  we shall never know...thankfully, his visit was uneventful.  all is well.

 who knew this stuff happened, but it does make sense.

 this is the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. t he building is really just beautiful.  i had to do a fast track through as they had staffing issues and were planning on closing early.  i zipped through, not that i am a person who moves slowly and reads all the signs.

 was telling someone at work about my nickname in my family.  several of my brothers call me "guns" or "bb guns" or "snugs" cause that is "guns" backwards.  this has also been sung out as "gunszzerelli" not sure how one spells that.  two of my brothers were up here not too long ago and on a rainy day we went to the museum here in Anchorage.  my one brother wanted to get my attention so he called out "guns" across the museum...the security guys and other patrons all spun their heads around pretty quickly. note to self..times have changed and we probably should be careful about calling my nickname out in certain places.  haha.

 i've had that nickname since i have had a memory. so i'm not sure who came up with it or how it came to be. one story was that one of my brothers right above me couldn't say "baby" clearly and so it came out as "bb".  anyone else want to chime in on that one?  my email address has it in it and often i have been mistaken as being very pro gun.  i'm not anti gun really, just for sure not a member of the NRA or something.  person protection ok...AK 47 perhaps not.

 huge groups of Sandhill Cranes all over the place that week.

 doing a weather check.  doesn't look too bad until Tuesday. i have the cabin in Byers Lake Monday-Tuesday.  tomorrow i may do a nice long hike someplace and then head out to do the crossing of Denali Highway. why not i guess.

 my one patient's family were a bit unorthodox.  the patient c/o hand pain/cramping.  i got her tylenol and when i returned her daughter had wrapped her hand in a banana peel.  her hands were feeling better...was it the banana peel or the tylenol...we shall never know.

 one of my work mates and i had some interesting chats in the wee hours. i was zipping between two different sections of this unit, kitty corner to each other so i was actually running out of the unit, down a hall and back in.  strange, but they have done that assignment that way for years.

 on the chena river.

 back at Creamers.

 he seems to be against any immigration...a common thing to hear these days. i brought up all the refugees trying to get to Europe right now from the Middle East.  he just said he wouldn't let any of them to cross out of their countries.  so i said something about the humanitarian crisis, he seemed to feel that this was the problem and concern only of their home nations and if they all got killed at the border..well i guess he didn't care..not his problem.

 made me think of how many religious folks seem to have these views...to hell with refugees and these illegal immigrants...nobody else should be allowed  to enter.  Jesus had no borders, i can't see him stopping those in need.  i realize there must be some limits and the border can't just be open or totally porous, but there has to be some rational discussion.

 we need to come down hard on Mexico in the big immigration event in the lower 48. it's hard for me to judge those who are doing whatever they can to get their families to a safer place.  if i was a parent in Mexico with a sick kid i'd be trying to get them to a better situation. if i was in the Middle East i'd be trying to escape all the violence with my family.  guess i feel like we need to look at the bigger issues and have more sympathy and kindness for the individuals who are just sucked into these horrible situations.  if i was at the borders of Europe, doubt i could just stand there and watch people die day after day without trying to help them.

 we also discussed the huge population in our prison system.  my big ideas for this problem...the hardened criminals...well, i'd love to give them the release and let them get their violent streaks out by sending them to fight against ISIS...you want to fight...there you go.  if you are alive in 5 years..we will re-examine you, evaluate and decide if you can re-enter the USA.

 my other plan is to create a program where every 12-13 year old summers in a kind of citizenship/rotc/survival training camp.  learn some respect, options, honor...may hedge off some of those kids that end up making bad choices.  besides, it is pretty sad that overall, if people have money they can just avoid military service.

 what other brilliant ideas did we discuss that night.  we did agree a bit on the PFD.  i'd be okay if they said, you will need to live in AK and prove you have lived here for 5 years before getting your first PFD.  i'd also probably be okay if they made a cut off year.  if you have not arrived in AK by say10 years from now you will not be eligible.  just put a cap on the number of people that it will divided up with.

 thankfully, for all of you i am not running any government.  i have no desire to do more than my walrus work.

 stickers are on order.  still need to finish up the calendar...then i think i'll order a test one.  i've never ordered through vista print...i know speedy can find us deals though there if it's decent quality. my sister was worried i'd skip my usual calendar of Alaska...but i'll make that one through shutterfly i think.

 also got super short notice regarding public input on fish and game priorities.  so i got out and spread the word so that at least a few folks would write in on the walrus behalf.  i heard about it abotu 24-48 hours before the comment time was closed.

 the POTUS has left Alaska.  i listened to his talk at the GLACIER conference as they aired it on NPR.  i liked this quote  of his from that, ""The time to heed the critics and the cynics and the deniers is past. The time to plead ignorance is surely past. Those who want to ignore the science, they are increasingly alone. They’re on their own shrinking island." —President Obama in Alaska on why it's time to combat climate change. 

 not many Presidents have done more than refuel in Alaska.  a few times it has happened though.  In 1971 President Nixon met with Emperor Hirohito of Japan in Anchorage, 1984 President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks and i guess back in 1943 there was almost a meeting between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Soviet Dictator Stalin.  that would have been quite the meet and greet to have witnessed.  Stalin was the one to opt out and they never met up here.  Churchill had responded that he would,"brave the reporters in Washington or the mosquito's of Alaska".

 just a bit of history for you.

 kayaks/canoes can be a bit tricky at times..  i guess this guy was rescued when his canoe flipped in the inlet...the next day he went right back out there in a kayak ( i may have those flipped) this time they weren't able to rescue him in time and found his body instead.  not sure why he went right back out the next day after getting rescued once.  some notes said he had suffered a stroke not long ago and perhaps he was just not as aware of his limitations.  pretty sad though.  strange as well.  2 other guys flipped their kayaks in Portage Lake.  hypothermia can kick in pretty quick out there, especially this time of year.  it's for sure dropped, those temps.

 another young guy apparently jumped into the Matanuska River...his body was recovered later as well, i think suicide is suspected in his case.

 work not overly eventful this week...which is always good.  i kept busy both nights though.  hit the bog today and yesterday i ended up chatting with family and doing WARIS stuff so the walk got missed, it was raining pretty good for much of the day though.

 these are in Anderson.  a small community south of Fairbanks and Nenana.

 saw  a few old cars so i had to pull over and snap some pics.

 not really sure where the colors will be for my drive north.  we may be well past prime.  still seems to be some time though to catch some good fall colors.

 always love this time of year.

 guess a Kentucky County Clerk is in jail after a long battle where she has continued to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples despite the law allowing for these unions.  she is claiming something about her Christian beliefs preventing her from having to follow these new laws. of course, this has left her open criticism as she has apparently not got the best track record on marriage...on her 3rd or 4th.  does seem a bit silly to hide behind religion.

 the guy above...it was a canoe with two dogs first and then the second day it was a kayak with two dogs....thankfully the dogs were rescued alive both times.

 our Governor, Walker, is planning on making a new climate change policy group...i guess everyones favorite Palin had actually started it and then when she blew us off to run as VP, her successor put the stop to that.

 liked this tree..just a solid trunk and good colors.

 into Denali National park we go here....

 Eklutna Lake has some new cabins for public use...that could be fun.  one that you can kayak across to and a few you can hike/bike into.  people can apparently start renting them next year...hmm. could be fun!!

 lots of fires this year and lots of rebuilding...it's a race against time...you can see the snow on the mountain tops.  winter comes fast.  sounds like they are getting lots of assistance from scouts, religious groups and other non-profits.  there is a good side to everyone and it's nice when the good comes out!!

 as you can see i'm catching up a bit on my newspaper reading...always enjoy my news.

 did hit Denali at decent color.  fall is just amazing....it's short but amazing.  guess the swans are out at Potters. thought about stopping by tonight but i ended up getting into purging mode.

 a friend is going to crash here for a few weeks i guess.  i'll take any excuse to dust up a bit.  finally got my wine glass holder up in the garage. if there is a decent sized quake though, those glasses will turn into a mess.

 headed to bed.  will need to plan and pack a bit.  will want my wagon for the walk into byers. probaly should put the other seat up in the back and put it in that way.  Blossom and i will then just have to snuggle in together that first night and take wood to the cabin for heat.

thankful for: A.  support for WARIS. people often ask me how it's going and some even ask what they can do to help the walrus.  B.  crisp fall air C.  rainy days.