figured you were due for some dogs...

 will be awhile before i run out of dogs.  probably won't run out of dogs before we run out of snow for the season.  they are super cute to see though.

 i have my frame all set up for viewing Round Island pictures so that is currently on my desk here.  wanted to have it scrolling through during our lecture. 

 our lecturer is currently out at Round Island, probably setting up camera's for the season.  i do hope he is back in Anchorage in time for the lecture.  way to make me squirm i guess.

 working on the details a bit for the lecture...the most important one though is the lecturer.  yikes!!

 another beautiful day here in Anchorage.  had a fun walk/coffee with the Monday walk crew.  happy to see one Monday walker we haven't seen for a bit. 

 just re-watched an interview of Stephen Colbert by Oprah.  both are really interesting people with positive outlooks on the world.  speaking of people who have faith, they are both never afraid to speak of their faith.

 Colbert is Catholic.  he mentioned a favorite scripture and how easy it is for him to read the writings of Jesus.  was saying in times of trial his mother would say to view things in the light of eternity. the passage that he said was his favorite had to do with stress and how it's not worth worrying so much.  can't remember.

 he also spoke about laughter and that you can't laugh and be afraid.  if you are afraid you can't think. 

 we are in times when there are many trying to trick us into believing things that aren't true, it's up to us to stand on the island of reality and not allow their tricks to make us forget what truth is, what facts are.  i'm a fan of Colbert for sure. he's done a great job with that show.

 real news is that which someone doesn't want to see in print, doesn't want told.  the fake news crap...really is just all the stuff iitoo and his followers do not wish to be told or printed.  actual fake news is complete fabrication.  today we saw a sad display of why local news stations should remain local.  a conservative owner of many local stations forced the news casters to read a pre-supplied statement.  what went viral was all of them across the nation reading this...it makes your heart sink to see the right turn our news into state run propaganda.

 it can be followed that iitoo is watching fox news, then tweets what they are pushing, he dines/speaks to the main characters at fox, Hannity is a favorite of his. he then regurgitates what they say.  he's such a pawn to both fox and Put.  it's crazy.  they had the white house Easter thing today...he's talking and of course, goes off topic, starts to say how great he is doing.  he's watching fox and playing golf...oh and tweeting. 

 he's doing his best to destroy our great nation....with any luck it will survive, with any luck there will one day soon be members of his party that figure out where they left their ethics and consciences. 

 came out as well that during his congratulation call to Put for winning his corrupt election he invited him to the White House.  he can do no wrong in the eyes of his rabid followers though.  it's pretty sad.

 so much happens every day it's hard to keep up with it all.  it's damaging though.  damaging to our international status in this world.  damaging to our Democracy, damaging to those who now live in fear as their lives are used as political grenades. the tweets are damaging, the lies are damaging, the attacks on the DOJ and FBI are damaging. the constant turmoil in the cabinet and the various elements of government are damaging.  we need stability, the various institutions need stability and they need people who are educated and experienced.

 we have chaos and it will be a tough road for anyone who follows up this iitoo and this administration to bring it back to where it should be.  hopefully, good Americans will step up and do what we do.

 as far as fraud, i do want to add that many of faith can be swayed.  they trust people that in the end they shouldn't have...people who claim to share their same faith.  it does happen a lot. there is an element of faith that leads to trust.  i think of this when i see those big churches on TV where the "pastor" is living life as some millionaire while the donations pile in from people who should not be parted with the small amount of cash they have. many do have blind faith.  this does happen in all faiths.

 this blind obedience without questioning is why we have radical terrorists, it is why we are now gaining a radical Christian element as well.  these poor folks will believe anything once they are committed to believing. even to their own demise.

 we should all be concerned about that element of any society that is so immersed in a religion or a cult so that they become incapable of discerning truth. 

 in many cases, those who would use these people do so by stoking their fear or anger.  anytime you see anyone pushing irrational fear of others or anger towards others you should be concerned.

 when i see these huge and wealthy churches i think of what Jesus said," sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven". "how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God". this seems lost in our current culture.

 it seems those with the most material possessions are heralded as somehow being blessed, being more right. "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God". 

 societies fail because of greed, hate, anger that take over.  we all just need to be kinder. love these little muscle shirts on dogs by the way. so cute

 back to work tomorrow for three.  right now my schedule is all messed up.  hoping they do some corrections on it tomorrow.  they just forgot to put it in and the base is my winter schedule. i want to have stretches off to play outside and have some little adventures...

 can't believe it's 11:30 already. what have i accomplished today?  dishes, laundry, packed up a few boxes from the Kitchen, walked...goofed off.  yeah, that is a day in the life.

 trails aren't too bad still.  soon it will be tough finding places to walk. 

 huge puddles and mud will be everywhere.  it gets tricky.  it's still pretty sweet now.  get out while the sun is still out and the snow is still packed. 

 love to find the longest dog tongues.

 stopped by the bear tree coming and going from walk. i never saw the bear. i  think it may have come out while we were walking .

 i did go check out the Duluth Trading store, new in town.  with all the store closings going down it's nice to see one opening.  bought some pants on sale.

 check out that long tongue.

 pups enjoyed their walk of course.  kept the front door open as i cleaned out some spaces and selected stuff to keep, give away or trash. so there are some new items in the free pile out in front of my house. 

 where much is given, much is expected.  that is where we all are at...it is expected that we give, not just of our belongings, our money, it's expected that we give of ourselves. 

 it's expected that we are kind to one another.  what a beautiful place it would be if that was more common. 

 intention is always important. there are good people out there in all walks of life.  i always try to find the good.  i try to be aware though of those who are not good, who would do harm.  trust is not something given freely to organizations or individuals, trust is earned.

 i guess that explains the crazy tweets...the iitoo hung out with his favorite crazies, Miller and Hannity this weekend in Florida.  speaking of hate filled, anger spewing propagandists. 

 always like the rear view as the sleds go past.

 cute pair of pups here.

 such sweet faces.  pups got in some good tennis ball chasing today.  the ball did not make it back to the parking lot.  we have been joking that we need to number the balls so i figure out how many i lose in a winter.

 more muscle shirts.

 got these new xtra tuff short boots when i was in Seward that last trip.  man are they comfy!  love them.  easy to slip on/off.  great little shoes.

 hope you have enjoyed more dogs...even if you haven't enjoyed my opinions and what i write.  I'm happy if folks just look at photo's. i get that. my opinions are just that, opinions. 

 dogs just kept running past us all day.  it was great.

 every sled is set up a bit different.  so many varieties.  I'd be having a full load, i tend to be an over packer. 

 one of the twins takes off. 

 guess i should get ready to turn in. 

 hope you enjoy your day. be kind.  have hope.  spread love and positive vibes.  be a hippie...without the drugs.  there was some great music.  i do keep laughing at how the media on the right slams these kids who are protesting and becoming activists saying they are kids and don't know anything...in many countries these "kids" would have been working hard labor since they were between 5-10 years of age.  youth are capable.  they often have few demands on them in this nation of ours, but they are capable of much more than we require of them here.  not that I'm saying 5 year olds should be working, but just saying they should be given more credit for what they have pulled off and what they are capable of pulling off. truth is these kids scare the hell out of those who attack them. 

grateful for:  A.  laughter  B.  hope  C.  truth

that's a wrap...

 but not really...there will be more dog pictures of course. I've only just begun on day two of my viewing pleasure.  credit and thanks above to Karen Rode for this fun photo of me chilling and snapping photo's of the dogs running past me.

 a few more from first lake and the teams getting ready for the restart.

 was watching a bit of the banquet tonight.  i guess i never really noticed that they did a live feed of this.  will go back and watch parts of the first section.  most of the mushers just thank their sponsors, volunteers and family but some tell fun stories as well.

 the banquet it the wrap on the Iditarod for the year. always fun, made  more fun this year by meeting Brad and his Mom and Frank.  thanks for sharing the adventure with us all. 

 i believe i got the answer to the question of how did this compare to all of Brads other adventures.  when he came in to Nome he was heard saying it was the hardest thing he'd ever done...paraphrasing of course, but it was no easy Iditarod.  complaints of not enough snow most years of late, this year complaints of too much snow.  as Nic said, "be careful what you ask for".  in the end 15 teams scratched or were withdrawn.  quite a large percentage, this means Brad should be even more proud at his success on a less than easy trail.

 above is Mitch Seavey's dad and Dallas Seavey's grandpa.  it was fun a few years back all three generations made the run.  all made it to Nome. 

 was bummed at the timing of Brad coming into Nome as i figured out I'd be getting report at that time and unable to watch.  luckily, i snuck in a peek at the live feed after report and before starting patient cares.  so i did get to see it live. 

 the party on first lake is just getting started...we headed back to our little gathering on second lake, or long lake.

 this drum seems to find it's way to the lake every year, thanks Tiffany.  it's a dryer drum but it makes  a great place for a fire.  i had stopped by late in the fall only to discover that our spot is not actually on the lake yet..a relief really as we always kind of worried the fire would melt through to the ice...no worries now.

 always the excitement as we see the first team head our way...and then it continues over and over until they are all off to Nome.

 One of the most dramatic trail stories of the year was regarding Jim Lanier and Janssen, the mushing mortician.  Jim has been battling a bronchitis the whole trek in the blow hole, in the dark and deep snow, Jim lost sight of the trail.  then his sled got tangled in the driftwood on shore.

 one team went past, Jim called for help, but Daughterty didn't hear him.  he later heard of the situation and felt horrible that he was clueless than Lanier was out there struggling. Zappa came by as well, she did stop and attempted to help get his sled unjammed.  she was not able to and her dogs were bolting and she had to run them down to prevent them from heading out to open water.  she headed to Safety to direct help back towards him. 

 one of my friends sons...so cute...waving to the mushers

 anyway, next was an old friend Janssen.  he stopped and stayed with his friend.  i think they were able to get the sled unjammed, but each time they strung out Laniers dogs they just refused to go. Janssen had removed his gloves and i guess those had been taken by the wind.

 things sound like they were taking a turn for these guys...they huddled together as they felt themselves starting to succumb to the cold.

 some bikes came by and eventually the help button was activated.  fellow musher Royer came back from Safety in a snowmachine to give the guys a ride back to Safety(she had finished her run to nome and just happened to be there visiting), from there they took a helicopter to nome.  the dogs and sleds were driven to Safety/nome.  so all is well that ends well.

 our group enjoying a beautiful day out there

 another of her cute kids waving to the teams

 3 nights work done for me.   kept steady in the ICU the next two nights.

 always entertaining and never dull at work really.

 we love our mushers up here in Alaska.  it is funny.  Alaskans don't even care what place you come in ever.  they just love tagging along on the adventure and seeing the personalities that make the run.  these guys make their lives running teams to Nome and running dog kennels, doing tours...keeping the sport alive.

 there will be those who will fight against these races and this sport.  as Jim Lanier demonstrates, when the dogs do not want to run, they won't.  they do love to run though from all i have seen. 

 they are bred to run.  sadly, our nation has gotten so soft, especially in the lower 48.  we humanize all dogs a bit too much. 

 i recall posting pictures of my dogs on a frozen lake up here on a labradoodle site.  i got slammed by a few people for my dogs not having coats, for being on ice..they have a fur coat.  my dog was laying on the ice...if she was freezing to death do you really believe she would be laying on the ice.

 everyone has an opinion and everyone feels the need to express their indignation about everything...and i mean everything.  the other day there was this post that showed these amazing cairn and rock formations and also leaf formations that people had created.  i wish i had the patience to do art such as this. i make simple cairns, but these were natural and impressive. 

 the first comment was from someone who started bitching that when they are in nature they prefer to see things as totally natural...so much negativity out there these days. can't these people just be happy or see beauty and leave it at that? 

 everything must be some major controversy. 

 this gal came in 48th. the two days i saw her she always had the biggest smile.  she was so happy and excited. 

 for many of us an event like this is a dream, but for a few they take the dream and turn it into reality.  we are all capable of many things, but we don't all take life to that next level and embrace it.

 it is always inspiring to see those who have a dream and then put in the effort to see the dream become a reality.  those who, like the rest of us, have fears but walk past any nervousness of a thing and make it happen.

 love the natural eye liner on this dog above. so pretty.

 most of us can only dream of doing an event like this....fear, guts...something stops us from making i a reality. 

 I'm braver than some and not as brave as others. i can live with that.  happy to not be stunted by fear in my life....though some days I'd hope to have more bravery, more confidence. 

 I'm generally pretty happy to take photos and hear the stories of this race rather than run it...though i always have this little dream of being out there. 

 just put on the banquet.  DeeDee's last year.  it's clear she plans to be involved still even if she isn't actually making the run with her dogs.

 I'm not super hero, but i do have some super powers in my bag of tricks.  we all do.

 at work, some days i do feel like a star.  other times I'm called names and treated like crap...people are stressed when they are sick though so it's best to not take it personally.  none of that this week.  most of the time my patients are grateful in the moment. 

 some days I'm not sure if my patience will last all 12 hours.  it does take a team.  this week i relied on our spiritual care crew.  thanks!  people get emotional and the other night i just told myself that i must have made this patient feel safe enough to be so emotional.  being sick, especially when it's unexpected is stressful.  my patient kept asking me how he could ever repay me for all i was doing for him.  i just kept saying, live a good life and be kind to others. 

 we all had fun watching drama unfold outside the ER from our upstairs view in ICU.  kind of nuts...and dangerous. 

 didn't really think of that until i was having an early dinner with another nurse friend tonight.  nurses put themselves at risk a lot.  a few patients have made me nervous for my safety, many have sworn.  oh the names I've been called. a friend is headed to Juneau to testify about violence towards nurses as she was recently taken down by a patient.  she was uninjured.  i have seen other staff get injured though.  a few with some bad injuries. 

 they are handing out awards at the banquet.  nice to see Nic get some extra cash and prizes for his efforts.

 Joar also got a few pick ups...gold.  not too shabby.  good that the top three all got awards, would be a bummer if the same guy that won got all of them. 

 I'm always hoping for the great tongue shots.  these dogs really have long tongues...who knew.

 love all the action shots with the dogs.  i never seem to bore of taking dog shots...or moose shots or shots of my dogs or Alaska.  haha. 

 not as easy to get the side shots, but i still do try anyway.

 Nic has made fastest time between Safety and Nome, 3rd time in a row....hopefully, all these awards for him help to offset the disappointment of not coming in first...i hope Dallas returns next year and that Nic is able to win while beating him.  :-) 

 the dog park is always filled with friends.  always enjoy going there and the dogs really have a blast.  i can't throw the tennis ball enough, ever for Ivy, but i try and i hope she appreciates me efforts.

 listening to Janssen now tell the story at the banquet.  sort of hard to follow, jumps around a bit, but he always tells a story with enthusiasm.  he got help when he broke his leg out there one year, the teams are always willing to help each other. 

 i will retire and watch the rest of this banquet...enjoy your night...

thankful for: A. dogs and all they do to inspire us and bring us joy.  B. the good days at work.  C.  that i have been blessed to not have mental health issues in the United States at this time.  we are all entitled to be taken care of.  we should not be a cold and callous nation.  we should be kind to our fellow citizens.  our mental health population has been screwed by this nation.  cold,homeless,  beaten down and left to die.