each day an adventure in alaska: one doesn't make it great...

all of these Americans hoping one person or one party will make America great again are mistaken sadly. that is not how a Democracy works. we have all failed if this is how we think.
these are puppies with scarves. i made them little scarves and i think they looked pretty dang adorable.

a democracy demands work by the people. we have been lazy. it's easy to be lazy. many in our nation do not even bother to vote. those who do vote cast ballots and then hope that everything else will be taken care of by those we elect. the people that tend to run and participate in our democracy are often times the most dedicated to one side or the other of a fight. when we are lazy we abandon our nation to be run by the most polar opposites and opposing view points.

the current POTUS ran on his make America great platform. sadly, when we put all the power in one person and/or one party to make our nation great we begin to alter ourselves from a democracy to another form of government all together. it is lazy of us to do this and the outcome could be dire for all of us.

Democracy demands us to participate, all of us. not just to vote but to be active and involved in our community government, in our state government and in our national government.

yes i do have a cat...below is Miss Breezy Chatterbug. above is bedtime...clearly i need a bigger bed. do not wish to disturb these cute pups though.

complaining on facebook, yelling at each other, unfriending, not speaking...these things do not make a democracy...we need to begin to have a more civil conversation with each other. we need to find things in which we have common ground. we need to realize that we have been duped into believing that only the polar opposite viewpoints exist. most of us are rational (at least i believe this) and know that in a democracy compromise will have to happen.

my friend and i take a selfie before heading down a sledding hill.

there are always people in any society that would honestly rather not have to participate, that would rather live with government or religion or some other entity telling them what to do, how to think. in some ways it can feel safe..the government takes care of everything else and you just wake up go to work and come home.

democracy is scary. the things that you hold dear are not always going to be valued by the others in society. you have to bend...even on things that you may feel are wrong....we have to find a balance.

Tusker above is praying for our nation and that we find a way to work this all out and come together somehow. now don't you feel better knowing that this adorable dog with a scarf is on your side. :-)

social issues are often what dog a democracy. separation of church and state. what you feel are moral and others see differently.

our nation is a melting pot...personally, i have always had pride in this. i love that we are a mixture of all sorts of peoples. for some this is unnerving if they feel these others values are now eclipsing their own. your values are always your values though. thinking of those who were POW's and were beaten in Viet Nam war and other conflicts. they can beat you but the essence of who you are can not be beaten out of you. ultimately, this is why torture is not as effective a tool as some would like you to believe.

i do frequently joke that if you wanted to get information out of me, simply put me in a room filled with mosquito's and no way to defend myself. i'll be singing in no time.

a patient i had the other night was telling me that where he now lives (some sort of bunk house?) anyway, it has people from various cultures and ethnicities. he was saying that he never would have thought he could live like this, with all these different type of people. basically, he was inferring that he had maybe somewhat racist tendencies but in the end he has discovered a change in himself. he has grown to like these people.

our community is filled with people from all over the globe. i have really loved meeting folks from everywhere and as a nurse i really do have that opportunity. i have a chance to speak to these folks, to see the scars on their bodies from the lives they survived. i want them here, i want them to feel safe finally after years of not feeling safe.

democracy and the United States is this crazy human experiment. people come from all over to make better lives for their family, to find peace and sanctuary and freedom. i hope we can continue to be this...i hope we can find a way through this current situation and thrive. it will take us all though, working together.

one way, is just to be kind. to look around and know that others are scared and to be kind to them.

one man,
one party,
cannot,
make America great again,
we,
the people,
make America Great.

Democracy,
is not for the lazy,
we,
the people,
have abandoned our duties.

Participation,
is Democracy,
Voting,
is Democracy.

if we,
the people,
put our faith,
in one
or a few
our Democracy fails

it becomes,
something else.

enjoying my little political poetry. not sure how others feel but writing something in verse seems to make it more acceptable i think. i could be killed for my views one day if the democracy fails i guess....but i'd rather go out swinging i guess.

that is something that has brought me some internal comfort. i believe that no matter how many people seem to support all these changes by the new administration...the vast majority of folks do not want to see the basics of our democracy falter or fail. well over half of the nation did not vote for this administration. another vast amount of those who did, did not line up entirely with this administrations ideology. they did not like the alternative....which i can understand.

so the reality is that a relatively small population of these United States would support some sort of government overthrow or coup.

my task/our task is to speak to one another. to try and remain civil. to find ways that we all agree...like that our Democracy matters to us all and that if it came to it that is what we would all fight for.

these executive orders blasting us every day are stressful, for myself it all seems chaotic which feels very unstable and stressful. i suspect that there are many who voted for him who had hoped he would have settled in and that the drama of the campaign would be a thing of the past.

loved the black and whites....

i suspect that many who voted for him do not support him trying to bully other nations whom have been our allies. i suspect they want him to be more diplomatic in world affairs. this is who he is though. the world is bigger than we are. population sizes have grown. the laws of nature will not be thwarted. this means that every so often we are all challenged.

in my lifetime, i have been protected by this democracy from experiencing the worst this world has. i pray we all avoid this in the future, but i also know that i am no more deserving of some easy life than any one else, that the earth and the world will not protect me any more than it will protect the Syrian refugee or those who have been sold into human trafficking or any other number of examples.

this world has a way of decreasing population size...weather through natural catastrophe or man made one...notice they rarely call them women made catastrophe's...? why is that? is it because women rarely engage in this sort of thing...? and if so is it because males have been more dominant in society or is it because females just aren't prone as much to power grabs and domination of peoples? things to thing about.

gloom and doom be gone...i need to try and hold myself above it all. be kind, be active, be aware.

there are things we can control...start there. at home, with your relationships with others, in your work, in your community. that is where it begins.

i will put in another political poem i wrote yesterday....these things literally take me minutes to write. i've missed writing. i've missed singing and song writing...time to get back to basics...keep myself occupied more so that i don't dwell on the madness and the lies...cause there are a crap storm of lies being tossed at all of us. find the truth, speak the truth, live the truth.

Walls

great walls,
big walls,
tall walls.
and yet,
a gecko,
a spider,
climbs,
unimpeded,
a vine,
rises,
grasping,
and clinging,
walls,
keep in,
keep out,
eventually,
walls crumble,
those that built them,
are gone,
are forgotten.

hope you enjoyed the puppy pictures even if you didn't read the words.

worked ER last night. i think i only took care of like 6-7 people. unheard of. can't think of a more chill day down there. i ended up getting to come home early and to bed early. i need to take these puppies out for a stretch and then try for a nap before night three.

my puppies are so adorable...i fall in love with them more and more each day!!

the only perk to all this anxiety i have felt over the past weeks/months is that i will probably drop a few of those pounds that have been lingering.

hopefully, we can keep beautiful places for the future...we do have a future. all is not lost.

precautions are wise though. i'd recommend it. i plan on stocking up on supplies, keeping some cash on hand, making plans in the event of an emergency. this should always be done.

honestly, i am more anxious than i have ever been as far as our nation is concerned. i feel as though i want to focus my money and energy into preparing for what may come and not living frivilous. have found myself more focused in the store on what i need rather than what i want.