water, water, water...:-)

 lots of errands today in the rain.  ended up not actually doing a dog walk. instead took the pups over to a friends to run around.  tomorrow i'll drop off Blossom to stay there for this weekend.  the pups got some nice zoomies in though which tired them out

 i had a mandatory class tonight so the pups were all wound up again when i got home.  Ivy is starting to clue in to the joy of the tennis ball.   not all the time, but more consistently.  this helps in my ability to wear her out.  Tusker likes it but only as it relates to being an item to steal from Ivy.

 the class.  well, i loved the members of this class.  we all seemed in the same zone...nobody responded to questions asked by the instructors. seems like you always have some person who asks a zillion questions or has to tell all of their many experiences.

 i wrote my rude comments down on the little information packet they had given us.  what is the point saying any of it out loud. basically, some officer persons brilliant concept to tell me how to do my job the way i already do it...but in some scripted format because we as a society apparently are incapable of coming to these ideas without some sort of bought and sold instructions.

 they kept saying they want 100% this and that...it's medicine.  we will never be 100% free of hospital errors  i always laugh to myself because the same upper management that insists you attend classes like these are also the same ones that don't give us adequate staff, run folks down working overtime for more and more money just to fill shifts. they also tell you not to come to work sick but then give little sick pay coverage and will reprimand those who have too many sick days...when you work with sick folks...especially kids.  guess what you will catch a few bugs.

 i just always find it ironic and fascinating that they will spend so much money on things like this hoping it will decrease the med errors and infections but none of them seems to want to spring for more staff or suggest that perhaps in a 12 hour shift a comfortable sleep room with short power nap acceptance may be of benefit.

 none of us want to make errors but we seem to be in a job where we are expected to be 100% perfect 100% of the time and guess what...we won't be.  we will always err.  i always just pray that the errors i make will be minor.  a late med here or there, nothing critical.  we live in fear half the time, no matter how much those ceo's believe we can reach a point of zero errors...we all know that is not achievable.  help us to get as close as we can by supporting us with sufficient staff, breaks where we actually have people continuing care for the time we are away...not just leaving and hoping nothing bad happens or if it does the nurses around you aren't so busy with  their own patients that they don't notice your patient going down hill.

 i try to always be respectful and kind to my patients, but i am human in this as well.  it's a frustrating job some days.  the patient that is constantly pooping or confused and trying to pull stuff apart.  the drug seekers, the alcoholics, the lines that get pulled out that put you so far behind replacing.

 mostly the expectations of the public that we can take your body or that of your loved one and somehow undo all the bad that has been done to it.  that we can fix you when you have drank  excessively or smoked until your lungs have little ability to exchange air or eaten so much that we can no longer do anything but guess what is wrong with you. Or that we can fix you when you have let your diabetes or heart issues go untreated because you don't want to take your meds.

 the greatest expectation of the public seeming to be that we can cure all....that death is not an option.  the public almost seems shocked that people die and that they die in hospitals.  they come to us sick, they come to us compromised and then we stick all sorts of tubes and lines in them and add lots of different medications in short order....then we are blamed when they die.

 it's called life expectancy.  it's coded in our genes.  we have some impact via our choices about this life expectancy. we can eat well, exercise and follow advice when we do become ill or we can choose to ignore advice, smoke, drink, overeat, skip meds, do reckless activities...

 still have some stuff to do to get ready.  hopefully i will have packed all i need and will be able to carry all my own crap in one trip.

 i tucked the pups back into their crates and i actually didn't hear a thing from them after that.  they must have been a bit sleepy.

 stopped by the new vets just to get weights and a refill for blossom.  anyway, they now weigh exactly the same... 43.6 pounds.

 i also stopped in to get the oil changed.  took all three dogs...not an easy feat in the waiting room. a few jumpers but overall they didn't do too badly. don't think the double sided tape has done much to keep them off the counters.  may have to get a scat mat and put it up there.

 took some stickers and stuff over to Fish and Game.  we hadn't connected to get stuff to take out to island for visitors.  so i'll stop by with some pamphlets when i get back i guess so the ranger Ryan can take it back with him when he returns.  figured there were leftovers from last year, but who knows where they ended up. probably got scattered around to some fish and game folks...that is fine.  advertising is always good.

 i spoke to him briefly about perhaps trying to make some sort of compilation of stories from the rangers that have stayed out there over the 50 years that Round Island has been a Sanctuary.  there have got to be some crazy stories from those folks.  would they be willing to share their stories...WARIS could work together to compile it i think.  then the sales of that could go to help the island.

 too late to vacuum.  will have to do more of that stuff in the morning.  never get it all done just hope we travel safe and that the pets are all okay when i return.

 back in camp after our first paddle.we collected glacier ice on our kayaks to be used in drinks that night.  i had picked up some "not your fathers rootbeer" and put my glacier ice in that.  i think this was some margarita mix.

 we had a campfire that night as well. i think our only camp fire. hit by rain the next two nights.  we kept watching but it never calmed enough to get the fire started. bummer.  i think they did make some s'mores over the camp stoves.

 improvise.

 salmon and corn on the cob

 big downed tree that we always seem to tie the kayaks up to.

 the strange letters formed in the glacier across from us.  D G....?  what did it mean? what was the glacier trying to tell us.  the next few days D G was unseen due to low cloud coverage and rain.  when the clouds lifted, D G was no longer prominent.

 the rain melted much of the ice...

 as i sat at the campfire i watched this guy stroll down the beach towards us.  at first i thought it was a dog but quickly realized how implausible that was.  he stopped to scratch his back and then moved back into the woods.

 as the fire embers were dying..the rest of us were headed up to bed.

 then the clouds came and the rain came with it

 but the waterfalls were going like crazy

 finally Monday morning we had blue skies again

 so we packed and then paddled.

 can't complain about weather like this, right?

 the class was much shorter than the scheduled 4 hours..i'd guess it was because we had pretty nice instructors, we had a class that didn't extend the class by tell their stories or asking questions and they have been teaching these classes for a bit so i suspect they just get faster at putting the information out there.i'm good with shorter.

 ran my little errands at work as well. i'll be off the grid for our next round of scheduling.  still want to get the days i want.

 did put in for my pto for this week.  have my hotel in Homer booked.

 always like the black and white.

 my friend is in town..i'll just have to catch up after i return.

 my to do list got longer for this trip and then it will tone down again...until the next thing.  end of the month i have my sweet niece and her family coming and then after that is a class on mushrooms in Denali National park.  the flowers was fun so decided to sign up for mushrooms. a few friends are coming to that as well. may be able to tent it out at Spencer...i'd had to let the cabin rental go this spring.

 Kennicott is still out there calling me too. can i squeeze it in?  perhaps

 well, i better go crash for a bit. busy day tomorrow and a long drive to Homer.  it's always fun down there though so...until i return.  hope all goes well with everyone.  hoping to return safe and with some fun bear photos to share.

grateful for:  A.  rainy days.  the dogs track in loads of mud but i love the sounds of the rain, the rest that comes on those days and the errands that get accomplished.  B.  the many lovely places to go and the joy that comes from being able to get to even just a few of them.  C.  a room full of like minded folks

silly photo ops in Holgate

 told you i'd get back here.  i'm forever behind.  wanted to try and catch up with the past this week before i head off to Hallo Bay.  we pulled over on our first days paddle for you know snacks and bathroom breaks and then...we just started taking these silly photo's

 most humans tend to silliness when given the opportunity.

 laughter is almost always a good thing.

 not sure who lost their spine....maybe bird if i recall correctly.  there is always dead stuff laying about.  usually not the big stuff, but i've run across old dried bones of various mammals including whales.

 beach combing in remote Alaska can be pretty exciting. loved my time in Nome for the miles and miles of beaches they have to comb.  Barrow has some beaches as well but there is more of a risk of being joined by a polar bear as you walk...which can be deadly.

 dwarf fireweed above and pretty yellow flowers below

 I did end up getting called in last night.  ICU.  i had lay down for a bit, maybe dozed for less than an hour.  always so sad when the phone rings.  lots to do this week before my trek.  will hopefully work on some instructions for the critters tonight.  make some cd's from this trip here for friends and get my schedule figured out.

 i'll be off the grid when we sign up so i'll have two back up plans.  one friend will try to put my schedule in for me, but i can turn in my desired schedule to my management team.  don't want your schedule messed up...that is my main thing with work that keeps me happy...give me the schedule i want and i will be all smiles.

 columbine above and rocks below

 not loads of sleep between shifts as usual.  today i think i actually was able to crash on the couch for some solid sleep time and didn't wake up to any major puppy chewing disasters.

 took them to the dog park. they always have fun there and get fully worn out.  they are improving in their dog greetings.  less lunging at other dogs faces...which i find other dogs don't appreciate.  some small dogs there and they didn't smash them so that was good as well.  bodes well for them getting along with the cats better.  they had great recalls for me all day.  in many ways they are ahead of Blossom in the dog park.  she just would get too excited and wouldn't listen at all.  i'd just head back home...i think she was 6 months old before i really started to take her.

 i ended up only having one patient through the night. kept  me busy. at least i knew with all the others on call i would not be called in for sitter work.  that is nice.  don't mind getting called in to take care of sick people...it's what we do.  it's why we are there.

 M ponders life on a big rock

 we dragged her into our photo session soon after this...i think she had fun

 SH is always willing to get silly.

 i think B wanted to participate but as the solo male he kept to himself as we snapped photo's...

 he was checking out this berg and then got a chunk off of it for us to use in our photo's...hehe

 he couldn't resist the fun for long.

 C and L were given props....

 looks cool with the glacier back there i think.

 Happy 4th by the way. i have heard a few fireworks over the past few days, but thankfully, the puppies seem to be like Blossom and haven't been too concerned.  that is always a relief.

 the space craft, Juno, arrived at Jupiter and will wander around our solar systems largest planet for a bit.  should be cool to see what this probe finds.  always find all this space stuff fascinating.  my mom worked as a secretary for CalTech/JPL?  she would bring home pictures and dealt with granting permission for use of photo's taken by these probes.  i think she enjoyed that part of her work though i think she was always a bit ticked that she had to work.  she had always imagined herself living a bit of a life of leisure...haha.  life doesn't always follow the path you assume it will...better to be adaptable.

 a young tug deckhand died last week.  he got caught/crushed between two barges and sucked under the water.  this was one case where it sounds like his PFD hindered him.  it prevented him from being able to dive under to avoid being crushed as there wasn't time to get out in time. must have been horrible for his co-workers. i know it was pretty awful for one co-worker.  news travels fast among those in the sea of tragedy.  they always know it could be them.  the sea is pretty unforgiving..beautiful, amazing, awe inspiring but deadly and without kindness other times.

 there was a huge landslide in Glacier Bay.  it was noted by a local pilot who saw the dust cloud.  quite remote.  130 million tons of earth moved...i think the said it was equal to a 5.5 quake.  it spread debries for miles across Lamplugh Glacier.  thankfully, due to the remoteness there were no injuries.  it was a 4000 foot high mountain...it collapsed.

 the scientists compare the amount of rocks and crap that let loose to equal to 60 million medium sized SUV's sliding down a mountain.  crazy!!

 we make use of the ice for our photo's.  of course if that slide hit the water...that would cause a super gigantic wave.  they have had those. seismic waves were noted from this slide as far away as Barrow and Nome...super crazy!!  that thing was huge!!  there was a pretty large sized tsunami from a fall last year that went into the inlet but thankfully again, no boats were out there...can you imagine.  they were talking about the cruise ships that go out there...but lots of paddlers go out to these remote spots as well.  that would be pretty dang terrifying if it didn't kill you

 the mountains are young, geologically, in that area..weak.  can be dangerous.

 the girls

 thanks bob for taking all the pics

 some guy in Texas accidently left his baby in the car while he went in and took a 4 hour nap...i guess he then put the baby in the freezer hoping that would cool her off and bring her back.  this stuff is always so sad.  seems dumb but i'm sure sometimes you are just totally wiped out as parents....not sure how you live with yourself after this sort of death. i always think too...how much stress that would be on a relationship.  how do you forgive your partner for this careless act...

 i hear fireworks going off.  they are actually pretty silly up here.  i mean it's still totally day light out there. how pretty are fireworks in the day light.  hoping the dogs just sleep through it. many dogs will be freaking out.  saw one post already of a dog in the area that took off after some illegal fireworks went off in their neighborhood.  i get posts from nextdoor.  it's like a neighborhood gossip sheet.  lets you know of mammal sightings..a grizz has been spotted this past week.  also of break ins.  so i like it.  many dogs flip out.  we used to get loads of freaked out dogs in the animal emergency clinic.  i can recall a few years with dogs needing surgeries after lunging through windows in their panic.

 Elie Wiesel, who survived Auschwitz and wrote about his experience has passed away of natural causes at 87.  i read his book, "night" years ago.  such a tragedy so telling of how horrible humans can be...what humans can be capable of.  the horror humans inflict on each other in the name of hate. terrifying how rapidly a society can be altered and bastardized.  how powerless an entire group of people can become and how many in fear, will simply turn to hate those who days/months before they would have exchanged pleasantries with at the market or on the bus.

 who would we be?  would we risk our lives to try to prevent the slaughter of innocents or hide in our houses in fear, not concerning ourselves with those who are taken each day, only relieved it isn't our turn.  or will we be worse, would we be joiners because we fear not joining will also condemn us.

 i'm sure we'd all love to believe we would be the ones hiding souls in our basements, offering up some of our rations to those who are on the run..but in truth many join or look away...the vast majority actually.

 a small ice slide.  you can see how close this glacier is to no longer being tidewater.

 we are still quite a distance.  you keep getting closer and it keeps getting bigger...then a big tour boat will come by and you will realize that you are still far

 it is suggested that you stay at least 1/4-1/2 mile away from the face of any glacier.  hard to tell distance out there though. the glaciers are so massive it's deceiving.

 selfie

 well, i better get some other stuff done and then crash for the night.  gotta rest when the puppies rest.

thankful for:  A.  actual sleep  B. well  behaved puppies at the park C. summer adventures