not many mushrooms this year...these are still in August

 way behind and still taking pictures...fall is in full swing and so photo's must be taken, walks must be walked.  i know eventually life will slow a bit.

 stickers and calendars for WARIS are both en route...excited to try and get everyone to sticker up!!  the more i can make Walrus loved, the best chance i have of protecting them.

 yesterday i took both pups and headed towards Portage Valley.  we cruised through the Wildlife Conservation Center, because we can.   it's always a little different.  yesterday they were feeding the baby sitka black tailed deer.  so cute!! i think the baby moose are now mixed in with the adults and they weren't near the fence.  

 these mushrooms are from a walk in Girdwood. i was hunting for mushrooms but really not many this year and i didn't get many decent photos.  it was bad light that day.  i was probably less than patient with photography too.  not in the mood to deal too much with settings.  i did enjoy the walk though.

 after watching the deer feed i headed to the Portage valley and took the dogs for a walk.  first a swim then we did the glacier ice trail.  probably just over 3 miles as i had Rio.  it's good trail for her though as it's pretty flat and wide.

 today i opted to head to the Glen Alps trailhead. at first i was going to just do the powerline trail so i left my walking stick in the car.  in the end i decided to head out to Little O'Malley. it was a really pretty day out there.  the very top part has a pretty steep pitch and with the snow and mud i was a bit nervous about coming down so i stopped and sat and enjoyed the view and skipped the last 100-200 yards to the top. i heard as well that the snow on the ball field was mid calf.

 the colors were pretty and i enjoyed watching everyone else make their way up and down that top section.  several had slips and falls...that would be the ones without walking sticks.

 i must say my knee felt great going up and down so i was quite happy with that. probably was good i didn't have the walking stick as it made me push the knee and realize i don't have to depend on the sticks anymore.  still good to have.  it's easy to be tentative after surgery....at least it is for me.

 there was a ram up near the top so i watched him for a bit.  met a few hikers coming down and mentioned the ram to them so they went off to get a closer look.  they got pretty close too. the ram didn't seem to mind their presence at all.  as i was coming down the ram moved over closer to the trail, i'm sure the hikers got some sweet views of him.

 always love the rain forests up here.  Girdwood has some nice spots as does Portage Valley.

 the hand crank tram at Winner Creek.  of course, i've never actually crossed it.  the idea of trying to ride it with dogs in tow...not a good idea with my crew.  lately i've walked Winner Creek from the crow pass mine side. will need to hit it from the other side again.  it's been awhile. always good to change it up.

 hadn't been up Little O'Malley for quite some time.  it was muddy but not as muddy as i remember it being past times i've headed up there. the ball field is always beautiful so i'll have to hit that again next summer now that the knee is up for it.

 there was this picture of a black bear with a bucket on it's head. i ran across it on facebook the other day while checking fb on my phone. it looked like a bald eagle.  this was in Juneau....fish and game were able to locate the bear and make him sleepy for bucket removal.  there was another picture of a black bear wandering around at the front door of one of the local movie theaters.  don't think he came in...not enough change for a spendy ticket....he probably really just wanted some popcorn.

 another side effect of warming trends is that those pesky mosquito's will emerge earlier and earlier...something to look forward to.  worse for the caribou.  i read once that in the summer mosquito's can take a quart of blood/week from a caribou.

 of course, i'm not sure what makes a person decide to go into mosquito research.  brave souls.  the research i was reading about happened in Greenland.

 planned parenthood is under attack of late.  they do perform some abortions.  very few.  the government doesn't pay for these few abortions and yet the entire program is judged by the few that it does do and not all the other services that it provides to women...and many men as well.  the folks who tend to be against abortions are also often against honest sex education and against availability of birth control methods.  they assume that if you make these things available, sex will more likely happen.  sex happens anyway.  abstinance sounds great but our society is pretty sexually screwed up from what i can see..it's not likely to be a high choice for a birth control method.

 if i saw all those who are against these things stepping up and taking in the many kids that are in need of homes and foster homes, i may be more sympathetic to their cries, but to insist that all these kids be born to uncertain futures with little to no support...it's a tough one.

 it's not like i'm for abortions.  i'm pro-choice. it's not a choice i would have made for myself but i can see a variety of situations where i can be sympathetic to those who do choose it. personally, i think there are methods out there to prevent most pregnancies and i'd be all for making those available to all.  Also for us giving drug addicts long term birth control methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies. in truth most folks who are pro-choice are not all yippee...lets go do some abortions!  most would prefer to find some other way to deal with it.  have you looked at the number of kids in foster care of late though...?  we can't take care of the kids we have.

 of course, i also feel like it you come  in to deliver your baby with drugs in your system...you have just proven you are an unfit parent and the parental rights should be severed immediately.  too many kids are tossed back and forth and parents given far too many chances to get their crap together.  by the time it's determined the parent is horrible, the damage is done, the kid is older and placement gets harder.

 from what i've seen you have to be a pretty awful parent to actually lose your parental rights...i mean awful!!

 the nursing page that went up on facebook was fun for a few days..i do enjoy reading peoples histories of how they came to nursing and it has been fun getting support from nurses across the globe and folks who are in related medical fields

 as the days pass you get the silly posts from people who are truely hating on those view chicks.  i thought they were idiots and that the show where they focused on nursing and "apologized" was scripted.  in truth though, what do i care in the grand scheme of things what those spoiled women think.  point made.  no sense letting yourself get worked up over pointless drivel.  i liked that for a few days it was nurses being supportive of nurses, which is rare.  fun to have a page filled with inspirational stories, laughter, fun photo's and all of that.  i'm all for that.  saw some posts about is an LPN or CNA valid to be included...crap like that.  it's all a team...we need the whole team to make it work

 i've seen this sort of thing often, it's what tends to divide us in the end.  it's the status you have...are you an LPN, a CNA, an ADN or a BSN...or perhaps you are an MSN.  the titles after the names come to define people and some like to lord over others with their many letters.  i've found that the number of letters after your name is not always an indication of your skill level at the bedside.

 we had this when i worked as a vet tech as well.  i was a licensed vet tech...others weren't licensed.  the difference was that i'd gone through a program and had taken the state boards.  i recall that we were ordering name tags...OMG what a fire storm that became.  i'd had no idea.  i'm not opposed to those who have advanced degrees being proud of them and sharing them...they earned it, they worked for it.  it's always good to be careful that you don't use that as some power source though.  it's a sure way to piss people off.  advanced degrees is not always proof of intelligence. no matter how many degrees some folks get, if they lack common sense...working at the bedside can be rough.

 what i lack in brains i often find i make up for in common sense and instinct.  the longer you do this they more of a gut instinct you get for it. you can't learn that in classes.  many just want to get as far from the bedside as they can.

 it makes me laugh.  the trend in hospitals is to hire advanced trained nurses, they must have at least a 4 year degree. despite all my experience i'm still an ADN nurse so even at my current hospital, where i am appreciated, i would have a tough time getting hired if i was just coming in.  what is funny to me is that these hospitals are costing themselves a great deal of money by doing this.  the ADN nurses have less ambition to move on and out of the hospital setting.  ADN nurses are bedside nurses.  the others are there for a set time and then they want to move on to bigger and better things...what this means is that hospitals are constantly training new staff, only to have them move on to bigger and better things as soon as their contracts are up.  i'd be asking..what are your goals...if they say they hope to become an NP or CRNA...skip em.  they are just telling you they plan on using your hospital to get the obligatory 2 years ICU experience and they plan on quitting soon after that.

 lichen...i'm always a fan of lichen.

 sounds like Chile had a little quake... 8.3!!  yikes.  haven't really heard much about it.  a tiny wave hit landfall from the quake in King Cove up here.  it was less than a foot, but i guess they noticed it.  not sure how they notice such a thing.

 just ran across another article about Chile and why so little news about destruction...there was relatively little destruction considering the magnitude.  it was only 7.4 miles depth which isn't far at all.  it lasted 3 minutes, which no doubt felt like 3 hours.  apparently, Chile is quite prepared for huge quakes and has some of the strongest buildings made to withstand big quakes. of course, the less well built buildings did poorly and the waves created after the earthquake also took their toll, it could have been much worse though. well done Chile....!!

 interesting blip at the end of the evening news tonight.  apparently President Carter has taught sunday school in Georgia for over 30 years or something like that.  he's still teaching it.  of course, with the announcement of his cancer the crowds gathering to listen have increased. he does sit for photo's after and to meet and greet.  i remember as a kid, him being President and not being well liked in the house i grew up in.  he's turned out to be quite a kind soul i must say. he's done a lot to help others in his life and does so with grace and kindness.

 there was a little snowman at the top of O'Malley today.  it is funny how many Alaskans flock to that first snow fall.  we must all be nuts.  we have such long winters and short summers...you would think we would avoid the snow at all costs, but we are a wacky bunch apparently and i was far from the only person out to enjoy the beauty of that first snow.  i've seen pictures posted all over facebook of folks enjoying the snow.

 not many shrooms but i still enjoyed them. i need to start loading this years photo's on to shutterfly.  i know, every year i vow to load them each month and not have to do it all last minute...and every year i fail to do so.  my sister seems to want one of my usual Alaskan Calendars...

 will have to do prep work and then sit down and get it done. since i'll be heading to CA for thanksgiving i will need to try and get as much Christmas stuff done before so i can just hand it all out there and save on shipping costs.

 saw that a group of 7 hikers died in flash floods in Utah.  Zion National Park is beautiful.  nature can be unforgiving though.  very sad for these avid hikers and for those they left behind.  looks like they were experienced and prepared...it was just very unfortunate timing.  seems to me it's always best to go out doing things you love instead of giving in to fear too often and avoiding new experiences.

 these moose were on the side of the road up Campbell Airstrip.

 it was two different pairs of mom's with a calf.

 just noticed a sweet little commentary piece.  we have many nations represented in Anchorage.  we are truly a melting pot.  i quite enjoy that we have opened our hearts to so many from so many places, that people feel welcome and safe after living in some horrific places.  some Sudanese refugees had their cars vandalized and nasty words were painted onto their cars.  Hano works at the hospital i work at and he wrote  a piece thanking many who had come forward to offer assistance to the group.  they were frightened for their safety...after what they went through in Sudan one can certainly understand that.  always good to know that so many folks show up when the few haters out there try and make life miserable for folks just trying to live in peace.

 some chick was wearing a t-shirt that said, "tattooed and employed".  i found it to be a silly shirt as so many people are tattooed now that it's hardly a novel thing or even a rebel thing.

 cute moose...

 i've run out of opinions for the night...haha.

 don't think i'll ever run out of opinions.  sometimes they change though. i always leave space for change .you never know when someone say something or you will read something and you will start to see things another way. always best to be open to ideas...of course, some opinions i hear out there are pretty nuts.  it would take quite a bit to sway me towards their side.

 these are from a day out on Westchester Lagoon...always a good place for a walk.

 even nicer when a rainbow shows up

 i'm always a fan of rainbows.

 guess i shall turn in.  earlier than previous days. do need to get myself up and moving tomorrow.  Monday walk at 11 am.  wouldn't mind getting some cookies made before for coffee after....i won't make any promises though. i'm so not a morning person.

grateful for:  A.  a well healed knee and getting back to hiking at pre injury levels.  B.  laughter, always appreciated.  C.  beautiful scenery...it never bores