packing again...

 there is apparently a fire closer to Tok.  may have to pass by and hope it doesn't change direction and trap me.  still thinking of heading towards Chicken tomorrow. i have Sat and Sun night to wander a bit before i get to Hunter cabin for a few nights, then home.  should be a fun little excursion.

 these first are from the Valdez trek still.  quite a few hikes between then and now. 

 weather was looking pretty decent out Chicken way.  spent the day trying to get errand stuff done before heading out tomorrow. 

 admittedly, I'm pretty ready to crash for the night.  my stretch is over.  ended up with 2 nights in RCU and a last night in ICU. 

 had one patient i haven't had for some time but that patient is still there.  i had the patient right after their original surgery....some people cant' catch a break.  also got to check in on another patient i had in the ER last week.  the patients family was so excited i stopped in and just way impressed with nurses and doctors at this point. 

 we are pretty cool.  for all the strangeness and gross stuff.  i have to admit i have ended up really enjoying being a nurse for the most part. it's not an easy job and it can be both frustrating and terrifying.  i really love that in those 12 hours i can really be impactful  on the lives of those i come in contact with. 

 we get paid to do a job but you aren't as good of a nurse if all you are doing is the basics of nursing.  you must infuse kindness, compassion and sympathy in there.  some days it can be tough to treat all the same, to show dignity and kindness to those who are undignified and unkind.  the truth is, you just never know what impression you will make on these patients lives and peoples lives can change just by someone seeing them and being kind. 

 this is a pretty rough life some times.  everyone doesn't live some perfect life, surrounded by happy times and love.  many struggle with pain and loneliness and doubt.  it would be great if more folks could just take a breath, relax and try to help one another. thankfully, i am in a position as a nurse, to be there for folks who are experiencing great pain and emotional upheaval. 

 this ice chunk looks like a big fish...see the eye and the mouth? 

 you also get to laugh. you have to laugh.  some of these folks will make you nuts other wise.  two nights i hit the IV on a co-workers patient first try, that patient had zero appreciation for my mad skills...oh the whining!! 

 my little old, and i mean old, guy had a unique way to take a dump...we always laugh with each other...you really can't make up the stuff we see at work.  it's nuts.  people really are queer...

 for me...as i look back at my career as a nurse, i can see that this job has had a profound impact on me as a human.  it's made me better...it's made me want to fight for what is right for the humans i share this earth with. 

 don't want to destroy capitalism...but how much money do these folks need.  how many huge boats and homes and all of that.  how is it right that some have so much while others have so little.  how is this the plan? how is this humane? how is this what God would want from us?  i can't fathom a universe where a kind and just God would encourage the few to hoard it all and sit in their castles while the masses struggle and falter.  it's not about a hand out...but more about giving a hand up. 

 at some point it just becomes so grossly unfair that it hurts all of us.  a nation cannot sustain itself for very long when the money is hoarded by a few while the masses suffer.  you just create a world of anger and frustration and hate...it boils up and then over. 

 it just seems like common sense to have a healthy and well educated population. that is not to say that we must all have college degrees...quite the opposite.  we need folks willing to do all the various jobs to build a community.  if we could make sure that all who worked, felt their work was valued, we would no doubt have more who worked.

 love these hues above.

 rain yesterday, today we hit the dog park. 

 can't say i slept too well yesterday.  the city guys were at the house.  guess there is some issue with the pipes?  not sure.  anyway, i think the issue is in my back yard. i told them the dogs and i will be gone Monday and Tuesday so they could work dog free out there.  hopefully, i do not come home to some mess and a sink hole in the yard.

 more packing to do, but at least I've gotten it started. throw crap in the car, gas up and hit the road. 

 looks like 405 miles from Anchorage to Chicken, with stops probably 7-8 hours...depends on what there is to see.

 could just take the Richardson Highway up to Fairbanks and back down to the cabin or do the Denali Highway crossing. as usual i do not have any sort of absolute plan. Paxson Lake campground is really pretty...or Tangle Lakes...hmm...could even try for Paxon lake then explore north a ways the next day and come back to Tangle lakes and then do the cross over on Monday on the way to the cabin...it's been a while since I've been to Chicken. 

 there is a party going on in the neighborhood. seems to be one in the neighborhood behind as well.

 still clearing out the old fridge.  freezer done the other day between shifts.  nice when i actually get stuff done.

 we are approaching this glacier.  once you pull up closer you can no longer see the glacier above that winds its way back up into the mountain ranges.

 those dark area's in front of the glacier above are seals.  there were quite a few seals chilling on ice closer to the glacier...closer than we got.  so not the best photos of the seals, but still fun to watch all of them out there.

 there is the face. 

 the rest are more cell phone shots i think from mine and other friends phones on various hikes around Anchorage.

 these are again at Reed Lakes trail system

 nice reflections.  we got lucky and got some sunshine.

 this is out powerline pass with friends.

 right after these it started to pour.  strange as it sounds i enjoyed that walk in the rain...

 with KR and LS.  i think Karen has forgiven us for taking her up the mountain a bit.  she did great and I'm guessing she recovered pretty fast!  :-)

 other friends headed south to the Kenai. always fun.  it's great to explore to me though.  i love a nice drive, see what i can see.  catch different places at different times of the year.

 Alaskan cotton in Glen Alps.  always a favorite.  it looked a bit different all matted down with the rains on the way back.

 attempting yoga poses. I'm not all that good at the balancing. i really need to get back to my yoga and swimming.  my body needs me to

 a few photo's of ceiling tiles in the peds units.  these were super cool.  they are having them painted and putting them up.  i think it's totally fun.

 they do need a walrus though.  :-)

 i haven't made it to Seward for a bit as well.  always just so much to see each summer.  need to just buy the RV and take off on all my days off.  haha.

 Ms Breezy Chatterbug snuggles in with Ivy Rose.

 well, i shall head to bed.  tomorrow will be a long day of driving.  hopefully a safe one.  no moose incidences please. 

thankful for : a.  sleep and a comfortable bed.  b.  happy pups to greet me when i awaken c.that i have time and the ability to wander about exploring. 

really?

 so we can't pay our educators and for education for our youth, we can't pay to protect public lands, we can't pay for healthcare for all, we can't pay to help the veterans, the homeless....but we can pay 14 billion to bail out farmers affected by this iitoo's ill thought out tariff war, we can pay to build his crazy wall, we can pay for a military parade which really benefits nobody but the iitoo ego.  strange world we live in.  priorities are so screwed up.

 did not go to Rabbit Lake yesterday.  there are more bear things happening close to Anchorage and i found no walking partner yesterday so i headed off to Hatchers Pass with the pups.  we did nearly 8 miles out there. it was nice and sunny for most of the walk and then some rain clouds rolled in...but no rain.

 multiple warnings seen at the entrance to the terminus of the pipeline.  the oil spill is a distant memory for many who were enraged about it when it happened. this administrations assault on our environment and the species that live in it continues.  so much damage being done in such a short time.  it's pretty sad and infuriating. they are trying to make the endangered species act powerless.  this will result in species becoming extinct.  walrus are on the list to work towards protection.  any northern species on the list though will cause pain for the oil and gas industry so it goes. 

 across the bay from the terminus you can see the horizontal lines on the mountains...these were created as the ice receded.  various levels of where the glaciers once were.

 i headed back out to Valdez Lake for some beach time.  we'd been in a hurry to get on the water for the tour in the morning. i put up a few cairns and deposited some ashes from my old beloved dogs. have slowed down on this....probably a sign that i am doing better with the loss of Blossom.  still a painful memory though. i suppose it always will be because of how it happened in the end.

 this is one of those puzzle pieces of ice from the glacial ice on the beach.

 all of the ice pieces are.

 was a wee bit sore after my nearly 8 mile walk yesterday. normal i guess.  the dogs were happy and tired as well. 

 you can see the puzzle pieces in the ice below.  crazy.  very cool though.

 the trail was pretty over grown.  going alone i tried to make some extra noise to keep the bears aware we were out there.  haven't seen any signs of bears on these trails but you know they make their way through there for sure. no bears yesterday thankfully.  didn't pass too many out beyond the beaver dams.

 ran into one guy biking as i headed back.  he'd biked pretty far up and then hiked up a mountain with his dog.  always a smart way to get further back...though it is often the bikes that surprise the bears.

 there was a beaver swimming in the beaver pond reported as we walked back so i kept the pups moving along.  Blossom would have been in the pond in an instant...really any puddle was fair game. these guys aren't as nuts about water.

 the tennis ball though.  Ivy is pretty obsessed with that.  i decided it's like kids and screen time. i probably should limit her time with her tennis ball.  haha.

 more close up of the puzzle that glacier ice is. 

 i became a bit obsessed with that. 

 the iitoo is in a tweeting rampage again of late.  he claims that Rus will be working to get the Dems in...somehow i doubt that this was a topic of conversation in their secret 1:1..no doubt his way of fueling doubt in the election results if the Dems do well in the fall. 

 he screams no collusion every chance he gets...he doth protest too vehemently. 

 the deadlines are coming and going for children to be reunited with their parents. it's becoming more clear that there was never any plan or means to make the reunification's happen and some kids will be lost to the system and may never see their parents again...this is the family loving party...tearing up families in order to get their way.  cruel and heartless means to an end. 

 they are also trying to make it more difficult for gays to adopt kids.  there are so many kids in need in our nation and they are adding more to that with their border policies...if there are willing parents, they need to be considered. they hate immigrants, they hate liberals, they hate gays, they hate Muslims...this is the way of the right at this point sadly.  not sure where they got so much hate or why they feel they are so maligned by society.  they are free to live their lives as they wish...they just are not free to decide how their fellow citizens live their lives and this really seems to bother them. 

 driving around Valdez in the evening before bedtime.

 loved this big old tree. 

 read last night, watched a movie, "Gifted" and chatted with a friend.  so pretty chill night. was wondering why i just had one Netflix movie in...but my list was empty so i filled it in.  should be getting some new movies soon again.

 i just started a new book and i saw there was a movie based on this book so i added it to the list. i generally like to read the book before i see a movie.

 local art above.

 in the morning i got to the boat early for our tour out of Valdez.  always nice to get on the water when i get a chance. you never know what you will see.  not tons of animals...though we did see loads of otters. 

 a military plane crashed on Colony Glacier back in 1952.  they have been going up every summer since 2012 in an attempt to locate whatever remains and debris they can find.  the debris showed up on the top of the glacier back in 2012 and it's been a bit of a race against time to locate what they can before the debris field moves into the lake in front of the glacier.  they have identified the remains or partial remains of 38 of those lost that day. 

 the debris is about 12 miles down from the original crash site...that is how fast a glacier moves, at least this one.  there were a total of 52 souls on board

 trash cans painted and looking good

 wild irises.

 always love harbors...anything related to the sea is cool i think.

 seeing the terminus from the boat after we head out to sea.

 we headed out slowly from Valdez as there were many rafts of otters. 

 good to see their populations returning to more healthy numbers. 

 many members of the white helmets have been evacuated from Syria after their lives had been threatened.  they will be sent as refugees to nations with kinder policies than our own.  the Christian nation here is not keen on helping anyone but the wealthy at this time.  I'm sure God is well pleased with us. 

 there are still hundreds of white helmets left in Syria.  they emerged to become the only rescue operation in Syria after the many bombings but of course they are being accused of being political and so are being caught and tortured when they can be.

 Sessions spoke with conservative teens and when they started to change "lock her up" he laughed and joined in.  if she did so much wrong why have they not been able to lock her up in these two years, as far as i can see, no charges, no further investigation.  perhaps there just never was the crimes committed to charge her. 

 so many lies generated by this administration.  he is irate that anyone would question his legitimacy as potus and yet he spent a great deal of time claiming Obama was not legit.  you get what you put out in the world in some cases.

 no matter how much they hated Obama and his agenda.  he was a good and decent person.  a solid family man.  one day perhaps folks on the right will see that they were made to believe things that were greatly exaggerated if not plain false. 

 Jimmy Carter was off helping others again this last weekend.  building homes for Habitat for Humanity.  what do people do? it says who they are.  every thing that the iitoo does is for the benefit of himself for the most part.  even if it helps another person, it's done to make points to make himself look better, not out of any true compassion or empathy. 

 the iitoo screamed in all caps at Iran leader on twitter.  who would have thought the leader of the free world would do all his diplomacy through tweets? it's insanity. 

 i would welcome someone with a brilliant business mind that could also learn the art of diplomacy.  this man is neither skilled at business or diplomacy.  i can't imagine that using the language he does against every other nation (except Rus) will lead us down a good path. he is doing great harm to years of diplomacy. some like hearing a US potus scream at our allies and foes alike, but in the grand scheme it's not a great way to lead.  yes, i worry about this potus bring bloodshed to our lands but i also worry more about the damage he is doing to our nations Democracy and our world standing. 

 the walk back of the walk back of the walk back of words continues.  face it....the iitoo trusts Put more than our own intel.  do any of us really trust the iitoo in a room with Put alone once let alone twice...?  do any of us trust Put in that situation.  it's becoming painfully clear how easy it is for world leaders, especially dictator types to manipulate this man child.  he's a fool.  heap him with praise and he will drop to his knees for you. the Dems would have done better if they had taken this to heart.  it's what is working for the Repubs at this time...but at a loss.  loss of dignity, loss of self respect, loss of their party really.

 sorry, i have stayed clear of politics for a few posts, but there is so much going on and it gets in my head.  the best way out of it is to release it.  the blog is the best way. 

 leaving Valdez for the glaciers beyond...a fisherman below.

 a barge loaded with all sorts of containers, buildings and large boats....

 i had better get moving.  these dogs need a walk. i think a pre work dog park run is in order. they got the big walk yesterday.

thankful for: A.  reporters who continue to seek the truth despite being maligned by our current iitoo over and over.  B.  truth.  let it be heard, let it be known.  C.  no bear sightings in the woods