to those who watch fox i am a lunatic i guess.

had a moment of clarity today.  to those who are followers of agent Krasnov I am for sure seen as nuts. they assume I am the conspiracy crack addict. my news sources are more global so I feel fairly certain that my facts are more factual. they live in such an information bubble that to them, this is just another presidency, nothing to see. all the felonies and accusations are all part of a witch hunt and he is just a victim of all of it. people in my family have told me I have rump derangement syndrome. I am the odd one so I'm sure they tell each other I'm just overreacting, emotional, crazy. best to avoid contact all together. it's too frustrating and it makes me angry really.  lives are being destroyed and they cheer it all on like he's doing all these good things for the nation

really, he's just handed it all over to Putin. Putin so clearly owns him. there was a news conference in the oval office, except not all Press was welcome, but Putins press core was. he and his vp berated Zelensky. now he wants to withhold weaponry and money. of course, many in my family no doubt believe that Zelensky is taking money and buying yachts. really, I felt it proved that many in the GOP, but especially agent Krasnov is owned by Putin. we are in a sinking ship at the moment. 

the congress GOP have ceded all power. the supreme court as well has been placed under his control. they already gave him absolute immunity and the next case will no doubt hand him the power to break any law he wants. it's easy to see looking back how we got here. the GOP had a plan, I suspect for some of the old guard this wasn't exactly the plan, handing things over to putin but greed and lust for power makes fools.

these are from an early spring trip to Homer last year. I have just booked a few treks during low tide. one will be added onto the Tonsina trip.  I'll do 2 nights with friends in Seward at Tonsina cabin then finish the drive down to Homer for a few nights. the low tides were neg 5.2 so hard to pass up. Also a trek for low tides around my Birthday. 

actually worked ICU the other night. haven't been there for a bit. also got a peds night and have been sitter quite a few times since coming back from surgery. 

went to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod on Saturday. we are already in spring so very little snow. I generally do not see this amount of lawn until late April/May, but here we are. they only went about 2 miles with the teams, not the usual 12 miles across town. not enough snow. the restart was today in Fairbanks. 

I pondered the drive north. the roads and weather would have made it a pretty safe and easy trek. I really wasn't up for the 7-8 hour drive. debated staying in Healy overnight Sunday and waking early to get there in time for the teams or see them in Nenana I guess. sounds like the warm weather impacted the restart up there as well. parts of the big river aren't as frozen. so perhaps for the best. 

I'm more anxious/depressed with our current political situation. in truth there isn't that much I can do.  minimal shopping, buy local. I need to make a call to fidelity and see if they have any advice.  fear losses on my retirement savings. I've started to make some searches into moving to the Yukon or BC, just get out of this failing nation. it is tempting. do I want to be here to witness them tearing up our parks. 

you don't want to overreact but you also don't want to wait until it's too late to make a move. people move all the time. with the pets the move lateral would be most realistic. how bad will this all get and for how long?  these are the things we can't magically know. I wake up hoping for breaking news and this is over. I doubt that will be the case. wishful thinking

the kittens have all found new homes. I hope the new homes are good. I have to assume they are for my sanity. it was so hard taking them in and I cried the whole way home.  who knew you could get so attached so quickly. they will always be the way they were the day I let them go. I had a dream and I was on a beach I think and soon one by one the kittens all came out to me and we were together again.  the mom cat, Sophia is still waiting for a new home.  I knew it would be hardest with her. she's sweet and I can tell from the notes and photos that the staff like her so hopefully soon she finds her new place. 

I think my cats are happy to have me back giving them attention again. 

the ice hearts are melting. just a few out there, falling out of trees at this point.  they did bring a lot of joy to many out there. fun to see sightings posted on bike and hiking groups on facebook and IG. only a few negatives, there are always those. leave no trace types...it's water and food coloring mostly but whatever. 

sadly, there are just a lot of unhappy miserable people out there who want to spread their hatred. 

this trans hate still baffles me. what do they want of these people. I ask the conservatives I know...but there really is not answer to this. I told one that even though they claim to not hate these people they do aid in making a larger target on these folks. giving permission for whatever hell the GOP wishes to bring upon them. mostly it seems a mission of cruelty. even if they claim to not hate these folks these laws are not coming from a place of love. 

they want these people off their radar.  they don't want to think of how that could happen. making them miserable, taking away treatments, taking away rights, taking away medicine, taking away suicide hotline access. it's coming from a place of hate. the only option seems to be to find Jesus and pretend they are not who they are.  

getting them out of the military, where we have spent money to train them to valuable positions with needed skills.  no foresight.  just like all these mass firings.  they do all of it with cruelty because that is the point.  cruelty. national park folks are told they are being fired because they have done a bad job despite them all having great reviews on record. cruelty to the regular people.they do not even take into account all the money brought in from these parks that more than balances these salaries paid. 

they are chopping off the lowest earners. all this to make more tax breaks for those who make the most money. it's not about efficiency, it's about hate. 

we will do our annual Round Island lecture at REI on March 27, it looks like. everything is okay for this year. it's a state run sanctuary. 

these photos are back to this year, February.  we did have a little bit of chilly temps before another warm up. 

I'm writing on the new computer and keyboard.  got to get used to it. I do like the spell checking again. 

here is Sophia attempting to reach the pets on the other side of the door

today we ended up at powerline pass. still packed snow to walk on so that was nice. a bit of wind the last few days. yesterday we hit the dunes and oceanview bluff park. that was walking on a few inches of water over the ice so that is probably the last time i can go there.

Sunny and I have been taking a basic obedience class. refresher, but also he just didn't get the best training I suspect since it was covid and i was anxious and i was also distressed over Tuskers loss 

he's super smart but for sure needs some extra reminders. he has chased a few moose this winter and he likes to bark. he also needs to tone down his play activities. he likes to nip other pups butts and this is not always appreciated. he's just trying to spur them on to play. every dog has it's things. just will try to tweak a bit.  he's a really great pup though. 

Ivy Rose is also amazing. she just turned 9. can't believe she is 9. still chasing that tennis ball. not as much. mostly she carries it.  for her Birthday I got the indoor dog pool. omg she was so excited. I did notice she gets tired easier now than she used to. 

the week before we did an overnight camping trek to Manitoba cabin with friends.  roads and weather were  great so it was a fun escape. 

this is Halfie and Squeaker

Monty at Manitoba yurt. 

best to try and find ways to relax and enjoy life despite the mayhem happening. eventually, it will get sorted out. just hoping not much irreversible damage occurs. 

agent Krasnov has very quickly turned against our allies and aligned himself and sadly the entire nation with his dictator buddies. those things will take decades to repair.

some of these are out at Manitoba. 

some are just the ice hearts that were put out. 

the kittens were a great distraction as were the ice hearts. both are gone now though. will have to find other distractions.  cleaning the house thoroughly would be a good plan. it needs it. I did go out in yard, which is already mostly free of ice/snow and picked up a large section of dog poop. I get stuff done, just not at the speed I should be getting it all done. 

you try to put positive out there but we all put negative out as well at times. easier to just avoid contacts than piss them off, especially since they all believe I'm the crazy one anyway. I'm never going to change their views because they are never going to get out of the bubble they happily live in.  sadly, their bubble is causing harm and death to others really...or will as agent Krasnov cares very little for them or for any of the citizens.  kind of ironic. Krasnov answers and adores Putin like his followers adore him and Putin could care less about Krasnov except how he can help him in the moment just like Krasnov cares not for his followers except how they can help him. those are weak relationships built of mutual hatred and fear. 

a few more hearts. I got quite a few out there before the melt happened, twice. others were putting them out as well so I enjoyed that too.  

we all need those reminders that there are more good folks than bad folks. mostly, it's a lot of folks who don't pay any attention or who are only paying attention to the wrong sources.  I really believed things were more protected in this nation. that our laws and norms would protect us. none of that works if those in positions of power cede their roles. it also doesn't help if a person who isn't elected and is extremely wealthy is given full power to fire and move money where he wants.... even into his own pocket. 

I say less here because I'm not sure if it helps or hinders the stress levels. still good to get it out of my brain somehow I guess.

thankful for A. the time I had with the kittens and Sophia. kitten therapy is real and beneficial. B. the ice hearts. it was a joy to leave them out there on the trails and to hear how they were enjoyed by so many C. the people who are willing to step up and fight the fight. it's not over and will never be over, not if we the people have anything to say about it