the Holiday Lesson of the Day...

 as a singleton it can be easy during the Holidays to find yourself sinking into a bit of self pity. you are alone, you get a bit lonely.  people are busy posting holiday pictures on facebook that make their lives look so much more exciting than your own.  it's easy to forget that for some your own posts may also make them feel like their lives are dull.  you do have to keep life in perspective, especially the make believe life that seems to get put out there on social media.  we all have normal, dull lives at times

 that in no way means they aren't happy.

 the holidays can bring out the best but it can also bring out our worst if we allow it.  feelings of jealousy and inadequacy must be brushed aside.  we are human, we have a whole array of emotions.  sometimes we are better at nipping the less attractive emotions aside, sometimes we aren't i suppose.  this morning i could feel those less attractive emotions pushing in on me a bit.  poor me...

 as i headed out for my walk today i was stopped at a red light...pity, pity, pity...and then ahead of me crossing the street i saw a clearly homeless guy.  he was weaving a bit as he walked and i noticed that he did not have any gloves on.  it was less than 10 F out there today.

 suddenly, my pity party seemed incredibly silly and petty.  i have a good life.  is it everything i hoped it would be when i was young and more idealistic about how life would turn out.  no of course not.  life doesn't tend to follow the course that we believe it does when we are kids.  you grow up, get married, have a few kids, live in a lovely home and work some amazing job.  no life takes you on a twisted path, it shakes up what you believe, and throws all those expectations to the wind.

 in the end, when i look back over how life has gone so far, i really can't complain.  it's probably better than what i expected as a kid.  i live in Alaska, i am a nurse who makes a difference in the lives of others each time i work, i have friends who i can laugh with and travel with and who have stayed there, in my life for years.  we pick up right where we left off each time we come in contact.  my family, there are occasional annoyances, but overall there is love. there is support and there is friendship with them.  i'm grateful to have so many resources...if something bad happens, i suspect i could count on a lot of folks to step in and help me.  

 it doesn't matter what is or isn't under my Christmas tree, i have the means to keep myself housed and fed. i have heat, i have running water. i have pets that live better than a rather large percentage of the other humans i share this planet with.  my home, while humble, would house 3 families in some countries and they would be thrilled with the accommadations.

 seeing that homeless guy took me back, away from my moment of pity.  our lives matter.  all of them.  i couldn't get to him to give him gloves,being in traffic and also i tend to have tiny kid sized hands or i would have tried harder to get to him to give him mine.  i did stop by the store and now have 4 pairs of gloves in the car so i am ready and can hand those out.  being homeless in Alaska can't be easy.  it's gotta be dang tough.

 Christmas isn't about the size or your tree, the decorations, how big your home is, who you know, what gifts you can afford to shower on loved ones...it's not about that at all.

 no matter what religion you are Christmas is for all..a season to remember Christ and the message that was brought to the earth.  Love, Kindness, Acceptance.  it's a time to open your heart to all, to judge not and to love unconditionally.

 some of us tend to love dogs, cats, walrus, elephants and rhino's and such but love is love.

 the stuff i have always loved about Christmas is the spirit of it.  how people are just a bit friendlier, more apt to give.  it makes people think of others more than themselves.  people are kind, people are generous, people smile and give.

 i like the tree in the house and the lights, i like the music.

 i have many lovely memories of Christmas gatherings as a kid.

 moose and the moon....these were in Kincaid

 more free advertising.

 these were in Eagle River Nature Center.

 Just Blossom and i again.  we don't mind really.  we always get along great.  got our steps in today.

 cute little bird out there, drinking the water and bathing in it.  always amazed that they do that even in the cold of winter.

 not all birds fly south in the winter.

 so that was my day i guess. from pity party to being grateful. i am grateful for that little reminder of how all our lives could be. i always like that ,"there but for the grace of God go I".  i recently read another quote in Readers Digest i think from a book by Rob Lowe.  "Never compare your insides to someone else's outsides".

 even if you don't feel loved in the moment.  you are loved.  there is a power greater than us all that will wrap us in the warmth of love if we are open to it.  there are people who care about you, they are out there.

 liked this small opening into the creek.  it is strange to me that this slow meandering creek is still so open while the larger and faster moving Eagle River is nearly frozen solid.  a few guys were biking on it.

 guess Trump made some comments about Clinton going to the bathroom on a break in the Democratic Debates...he felt it was disgusting. love Bernie Sanders as he seems to have class and isn't afraid to speak up on anything.  go Bernie.  people keep saying Trump won't get elected but he still has too high of poll numbers. who are these people who are backing him,what does it say for our nation, for our future?

 the message and spirit of Christmas does seem to be lacking in that campaign.  Hitler was voted in, he was elected...makes me wonder, did people presume he'd never get elected with the rhetoric he spewed and then were shocked when he did.  life changed for them dramatically.

 a few little trees decorated along the trail today.  quite common in the winters here.  great that we actually have had snow cover.  they are skiing at Alyeska which is great.  looks like they were doing well with the cross country skiing on the ski trails in Kincaid.  they can make snow and it's nice and cold to keep it there.

 so far it seems to be unseasonably warm back east.  perhaps the worst is yet to come.  the prediction was that the east would again suffer from a crazy winter while we would be in a melt again...lets hope those predictions continue to be wrong.  we love snow up here and welcome it..the more the better.

 stayed up late watching "it's a wonderful life".  then i had a tough time actually getting to sleep.  i think it was after 4 am before i really went out. hopefully, tonight i'll do a bit better.  they had an hour of colorized "I love Lucy" on tonight.  i watched and dozed under the electric throw.

 this is the river..bikers enjoying a ride on the river. they had some overnight looking packs on them . not sure what adventures they'd been up to.  they came from the other direction.  i think there is a cabin or yurt even further in so perhaps they had ridden the river in to that.

 it was pretty foggy as i drive home in the afternoon.  fog is always cool.

 this is one of the few openings into the river.

 another of decorated trees, there were at least two.  i'd somehow walked past one on the way in.  caught them both coming out.

 not huge sunset action but still pretty.

 these are little look out areas

 in the end a peaceful day.  need to sit down and pay bills.  that is my big exciting life i guess.  dishes, laundry and bill paying.

 crystals on twigs over the water.  no fish spotted.

 Blossom helps me get the message out there.  Walrus Rock

 and the "fund round island" message as well since the state hasn't brought any funding back.  grr!!

 frost on the moss hanging from this tree, thought it looked cool

 old pictures become new again.  another new app, superphoto i think it's called.  lots of options in there, but really this is the one i got it for.  these turned out fun.  i attempted it with humans but it just looks like wrinkles i think..critters it looks cool. also works with objects and some landscapes.  still playing with it.

 loved the ones of Blossom and Rio Catalina.

 these adorable seagulls above and the pelicans below.  :-)

 my beautiful pups.  so sad that Rio had to leave us. probably more than i even allow myself to believe

 i've been super lucky in that i have had some amazing dog companions.

 always loved this shot below..we were on a road trip to Chicken, AK.

grateful for: A.  my blessed life  B.  the gifts i have received, a home, heat, water, plumbing, food, clothes.  C.  living in the most beautiful place on earth...okay, that would probably be debatable by some, but to me this place rocks and it brings me peace and happiness.  Goodnight.