should be sleeping...

 this top one is tonights ongoing sunset out at Round Island.  love the cliff cam out there.  the walrus cam too but just amazing to get to see these sunsets and sunrises out there.  there are guests out there.  i think the folks who came to the lecture this February were going in July so must be other guests. hopefully, they have a lovely visit.

 most of these are more humpback whales from our little show.  our boat was stopped and the whales came in closer so we had to wait until they moved away before starting the engines back up..

 poor us trapped in close proximity to whales...forced to enjoy the show.  :-)

 i did get called in that one night and then ended up working all my shifts this week in the ICU.  not a bad week at all.  was a bit busy at the shift onset last night as i took on a bigger assignment for a few hours.  a patient i had cared for the two nights before was allowed to pass so best for me to help the family since they already knew me.

 i was thanked many times by them and i'm happy that i just told them to let me just be there for them even if it meant a bit  of a busy assignment for a few hours.  it all worked out and others helped me.

 as a nurse you often are most appreciated in times of death.  i've been a nurse since 1993 so i have seen more than my share of death, in all sorts of circumstances.  you can really help family and friends in those hours surrounding a death.

 working ICU people either improve or they pass away.  in other units you tend to have the option to transfer to the ICU.  we don't have that option if folks get more sick.  the floors do deal with losses.  everywhere in the hospital folks will not be returning home to their lives. they will pass away.

 death is just another stage of life in my mind.  i wish we all did better as a society in treating it as such.  not that we need to celebrate or embrace death just that if society had a more understanding and accepting attitude towards death it could be managed better with more love surrounding the event, like a birth.  family and friends could be more prepared emotionally, patients could have a more planned and peaceful exit from this world surrounded by family in support.  instead too often our ICU's become more like mini torture chambers. people lingering on vents with multiple tubes as loved ones refuse to accept death

 this family was more reasonable..that doesn't mean their grief was less, just that i always feel when you are able to see the pointlessness of carrying on you show true love and respect for your loved one by allowing them to pass.  too often folks do not want their loved ones to die so they refuse to accept the truth in the situation.  it can seem very selfish to me and cruel.

 got walks in with the dogs.  we've had rain here and there this week.  it was really coming down for a bit last night.

 the week of solstice so it's 12:30 am and dusky out there rather than dark.  always so odd, but not complaining.

 gotta start planning for the next adventure which is coming up fast.  bear viewing for several days.  should be cool.  hope we have good weather for this one.

 you never know.

 you can see three whales in these pictures..a young one is in there too.

 Tusker has been counter surfing...really need to go buy some double sided tape to put on the counters and see if that will help.  today i took my fitbit off to charge the battery..next thing i see is him chewing on something.  he trashed the outside part of it.  i do have a larger sized one that came with the fitbit. luckily he didn't get the actual electronic bit...that was in the charger.

 some decent training walks this week.  much to learn and i can always be doing more.  tough between shifts to get too much added training accomplished.  just the basics.  always building on what we have already trained and tweaking it for improvements.  working on the pulling while walking.  stopping walks with a "hold up" and making them sit and chill before moving forward. i've also started adding crazy 8's to the walks.  i just call it that..i switch up directions and try to teach them that they need to be paying attention to me.

 did check the puppy class schedule.  will be tough to plan for another class until summer is over since schedules change up a lot . now someone invited me to head out to Spencer Glacier in September for a camp out.  sounds like fun.  may have to try and get myself out there with the dogs.  i was supposed to go there in late May but it didn't work out due to the snow pack.

 i'd still like to get out to Kennicott as well...always a few new places to explore in Alaska.  the pups have altered my summer plans a bit, which is fine.  always good to be adaptable and well trained puppies will be  a joy for years to come.

 i'll have to post some puppy pictures in between Holgate shots. i need to make CD's for my friends who joined me out there as well. hopefully, they took a few pictures of me

 i know a few photos of me were taken today...haha.  these puppies have continued on with their love of park benches.  if they see one they climb on it and have a rest.  it's really pretty cute. Blossom laid down on the ground in front of the bench and i sat between the pups.  a few cars actually stopped in the middle of the street to make a comment about how cute the scene was and a few even pulled out there phones to snap photo's. i only got a picture of the puppies not one with me in it.

 got a super fun package in the mail yesterday. belated birthday gift that was well worth the wait.  hopefully i can figure out how to use my new gopro camera before heading off to view the bears.

 first i have to figure out how to get it out of the packaging.  ok...figured that out.  will have to pour over the details and charge it up.

 want to call tomorrow and see if they have a dog room available in Homer for a night...maybe just an overnighter with the dogs to play at the beach. hope they will still take us with 3 dogs instead of two.  could be crazy in that small room

 figure the dogs will be so tired each night they will just crash anyway

 gotta love the whales, right?

 political news...all to depressing to even bother with.  the world gets too complicated some days. i'll just stick to dogs, whales and walrus for a bit. maybe the other stuff will be clearer later.

 much of the stuff in life is just out of your control.

 i love the animals and nature. they are impacted by politics but happily unaware of the battles that surround their world.

 somehow i lost a few days of steps on my fit bit...perhaps i killed the battery out paddling and just hadn't noticed.  oops. before that i had some really good days of steps. these are all just tools but it is fun to pay attention to the numbers..gives you a goal to work towards.

 my swimming has been lacking this month.   will fix that soon.  was going to try to go today but i actually was sleeping on the couch and i needed it.  nothing destroyed except my fit bit band, but i was awake for that anyway. the pups were sleeping i think with me.  so by the time i got them walked the time was gone.  also chatted with my sister for a bit.

 always good to chat with family.

 more whale tails. this one is a distinct tail. they do use whale tails for identification purposes.  i'm sure this one is well known since that tail seems quite unique.

 below you see the bird activity. it makes it easy to spot the whales...the birds are not dumb...they follow the whales when they feed. food comes up that the birds get to enjoy as well.

 on the boat with friends

 hanging glacier

 have watched a bit here and there of olympic trials.  gymnastics this week.  always fun to watch that.  they are finalizing the teams that go to the olympics.  very exciting.

 beautiful glaciers.

 above you can see both Aialik and Pederson i think...well, my bed calls.  i shall work on figuring out my new toy tomorrow. good night

thankful for:  A.  fun toys and the lovely life i live that i can enjoy such fun things  B.  listening to the birds and walrus and sounds of the sea on the explore.org cam.  C.  dogs...they entertain!!