Prey

 some treat their guns like they are children worthy of love and protection.  the kids in that school in Florida and in the other mass shootings were gunned down as prey.  the hunters give far more respect to the animals they hunt.  they would never use a gun like this on a source of meat, it would destroy the meat nor would they use a gun of this sort on a trophy kill...

 these guns are used to hunt humans, to make humans the prey.  these guns do so much damage to bodies that it is extremely difficult for the medical teams to treat them.

 gun advocates have gotten to a point of feeling entitled to these guns.  it's no longer about the law, it's about a group of spoiled entitled citizens who see their rights above all others, who have forgotten that their guns are not the victims, the victims are those who are gunned down .  the true victims are not to blame and yet, the guns are treated as if they need to be coddled..."oh it's not the gun, guns don't kill people, people kill people".  guns do not need to be coddled, they do not need your protection...

 addiction comes to mind.  these people have lost their moral compass in this quest to protect these guns at all cost. 

 someone posted a meme....you know how i abhor  when people let memes do their debating for them...at the very least do your research before you post a  meme....like do you know anything about Switzerland's actual gun laws before you post how they all have guns, training and few deaths...if you do a quick search you will see that they also have a great deal of restrictions and limitations on these weapons and especially on the ammo.  they do have gun clubs. 

 they also trust their government more...they have guns to protect themselves from an enemy invasion...the gun people here feel they must have guns here  to protect themselves from our own government.  facts are immaterial far too often, but they chase conspiracy theories for decades without any proof at all.  when i point out the facts of Switzerland's laws and that i actually would be fine with most of them...i'm told if i like their laws so much maybe i should move there....YOU posted the meme...tell me to move there after you posted it as a utopia for guns and then when faced with facts...deny.  used to that...deny and then change the subject....well knives, well alcohol, cars, those all kill people too...would you ban them. 

 annoying as hell i tell you.

 that whole, must be prepared to take over our government in the event of corruption.  often these corrupt leaders are voted in...sound familiar. once they take over the military, which in our case is the largest in the world i believe (thanks to the same people who want guns to take on the military---they are the ones who vote over and over to increase the budget of the military they want to be able to take over with their assault weapons), anyway, once the corrupt government takes over the military they will use their might to take your weapons...you may scream "come and get them" and they will. 

 i am then told that we have an all volunteer military so there is no way they would cede to a corrupt government....so then i'm really confused....you have just argued against yourself?  baffling....back to knives kill a lot of people.  and so it goes round and round.

 sounds like Dicks sporting goods have decided to stop selling these type of weapons for good.  i thank them for that.  the owner basically said he doesn't want to be part of that.  it would feel terrible to know you sold a gun that was used in one of these shootings.  they had sold this killer a gun, not of that type, but i suspect that would feel pretty unsettling. 

 we have a lot of guns in this nation.  Australia did buy backs initially and have done a few more buy backs. other guns are brought in when people pass away or if there is an arrest for something i think guns are taken if found.  it has worked.  we are larger and have more guns and frankly, we have more paranoid, conspiracy theory citizens.  that complicates any sort of attempt to get guns back that are out there.

 as for the then only bad guys would have the guns thing...let me tell you whose fault that is...we do not have a large import of illegal guns. our illegal guns were once legal guns.  so all these people who claim to be responsible gun owners...i cry bull crap.  unless you know where every gun you have ever owned is.  did you sell it, do you have any idea where it ended up at, did they sell it, how was it sold?lax laws on gun shows and private sales. people not reporting missing/stolen weapons.  bad guys have guns because good guys were not always responsible. 

 any arrest, they get a house shake down. every gun gets taken.  burn em, destroy em.  you want to hunt, fine, you want to have a gun or two for protection, fine, but you can't shoot them all at one time so you do not need an arsenal.  the days of entitlement are done.  the 2nd amendment was written vague for a reason. 

 you do not need an assault rifle for protection...protection means you disable an attacker, it doesn't mean you need to eviscerate the person. 

 it's time to end our nations gun idolatry. 

 got a bit fired up today.  i'm sure i didn't get the last word. 

 these are from drives around Turnigan Arm.  always pretty.  the sheep have been low a lot this winter so far.

 on to the glacier, Portage.  these are with my zoom lens.  later i have from the wide angle, which is what i shot with mostly that day. 

 today, i relaxed.  took the dogs to North Bivouac for a walk.  i should have tossed on my snowshoes, but i really figured it would be pretty packed down. usually, in town the trails get used pretty fast after a good snow.  there were several places with minimal tracks and some with none.  my snow shoes were in the car, but i hadn't grabbed them so me and the pups broke trail.

 didn't make as much of a dent in my to do list as i'd hoped, but it was a relaxing day. 

 after the walk i ran an errand or two and then headed to the Dimond Mall for the Native Craft sales..always a favorite.  bought some earrings and headbands but i didn't go too crazy. 

 fun to see everything that is created. one lady was making bowls from walrus stomach.  they do use pretty much all of the animal that they can, it's impressive.  some of those villages have a high reliance on wild meat.  as much as i love walrus, i also know that some remote places depend on them for food. 

 Ryan, one of the rangers on the island in the summer, returned my email and says he will speak in April...so that should be cool.  relief too, great to have a plan.  so now we just get everything else set up and hope that he doesn't end up with a conflict and have to bow out for some reason.

 love those blues in the glacier. so beautiful

 was going to get the oil changed, but at the mall i stopped for Olive Garden take out. it sounded good so i just came home and chilled with the dogs.

 it was Skelly time!  he is looking a bit more like a leprechaun!!  still some finishing touches i'm sure but he looks good.  his green suit. can't go wrong with that!

 also took the snow paint and painted a big "thank you" sign out front on the snow...not sure who shoveled the drive and deck so that hopefully catches the eye of the good neighbor.

 we didn't go too close. i'm pretty conservative around the face of glaciers.  having been in front of one in a kayak when pretty much the entire face came down...huge waves, huge waves!!  i have a lot of respect for mother nature and the power she has....some would even say fury at times.

 the iitoo's son in law Jared has been a bad boy.  his temporary security clearance was taken away. i suspect they are trying to figure out how to get him out of his current position gracefully since he is the son in law.  sounds like he has been two timing it by working his foreign contacts to benefit his family's business.  bad, bad boy. 

 iitoo went after AG sessions again.  can't believe nobody has found a way to cut him off from his twitter account yet.  this whole administration is one embarrasment after another.  the secretary of housing, is being  investigated for his spending...seems to be a common issue among his cabinet members.  nearly $200,000 in furniture costs. 

 each cabinet member has only one skill in his/her cabinet position, incompetence!  destroying our nation one cabinet at a time.  one day, i suppose we will hear the truth of all the crap that has been going down this past year.  people are flipping for Mueller it seems.  who is next?  Jared?  Hope Hicks...a model turned communications director has announced her departure.  she admitted that she has told more than a few "white lies" during this administration. 

 what a web of lies....!

 foreign leaders have insisted on working with just Jared as they know they can manipulate him.  these are both adversaries and allies. 

 still they return to blame all on Obama or HRC.  give it up already....

 take a little responsibility.  entitlements...they fight so hard against them and yet, the leadership seems to be the most entitled out there. 

 this guy is kite skiing on the lake. 

 the pups took note and took off after these guys. they aren't too keen on big kites in general i've found.

 they won't hurt them, but the chase...it's on.

 back to a little sheep action on the way home that day.

 this is all covered again with snow of course,

 the rest are at Potters Marsh. we stopped for a little walk before heading to Seward the other day.

 there were a few others out there, they had their dogs on leash, they'd walk 10 feet, then stop and smoke i think or talk...not sure, those dogs wanted to run...mine got to. 

 may need snowshoes out here if i went again too. 

 we totally got a foot at least.

 we have lost a few tennis balls today.  these guys just don't stick it out like Blossom did in the hunt for lost tennis balls. they do have each other as a distraction though.

 love a halo around the sun.....rant ended, time for bed. 

grateful for: A. chill days  B.  deep snow, crunching, beautiful...C never ending supply of tennis balls.

Happy Birthday Puppies!!

 this is soooo Ivy Rose!!  for anyone who knows her you know this leap well..and i both apologize and thank you.  she is a love.  i am truly adored by her.  i am not sure a dog could love their human more.  haha.  okay, my dogs have all been pretty adoring of me.  who doesn't love that though.  thank you Sandra for getting this lucky catch. 

 the ones of me are by Sandra.  thank you.  we walked out to Portage Glacier today.  i actually got moving bright and early.  it wasn't easy.  it looked socked in with fog here and pretty much the whole drive out...

 but as we got closer, the skies opened up and we had this amazingly beautiful day.  here we are in front of the glacier.

 there was only one spot that i noticed a wee bit of wetness on the top ice....it was an easy hike....slightly windy but very manageable.  not too many folks out there, but enough to not feel alone. 

 mostly ice and for some stretches there is some punchy snow.  it's 3 miles each way almost.  both times i've had my fit bit it vibrated that i had hit the 10,000 steps (about 4 miles on mine) soon after we had turned back away from the glacier. 

 the pups had a great day out there.  chased the tennis ball and are both a wee bit tired.  they crashed the entire trek home. 

 this one above is a selfie.

 i will post more from the day at a later date.  the rest are from Campbell Airstrip and Oceanview Bluff Park.

 always love being out and about.  was needing a good photo walk so today was great. 

 topped it off with a stop off at Moose's Tooth for pizza and salad to take home.  nummy!!

 back to work already tomorrow night. 

 the debate continues on the facebook page.  i think there are well over 100 comments at this point.  pretty nuts.  still the same outcome...which is no outcome. 

 always interesting to see how others minds work. 

 it's on us as non-gun owners i guess.  the gun owners have no desire to change anything....just make small talk about possible changes but then go off on tangents of how many other ways there are to kill people...blah, blah, blah...don't take my guns, blubber. 

 pups check out the hole their tennis ball fell in.

 was accused that all we want is to take away guns, that we need to give the gun owners something in return.  we have, in my opinion, we have trusted you to be responsible gun owners.  we have trusted you with weapons that can kill us and our families.  we gave you our trust and you have failed.  even if your weapon has not been used in a killing, guns have not been cared for responsibly. too many are now in the hands of the irresponsible.  they don't seem to get that the laws they have voted for and that their representatives have voted for have not just protected the responsible gun owners but also protected the irresponsible...

 and the battle rages on into the night. 

 one guy seems to believe that the second ammendment is written by God and is a non-negotiable.  i explained that in a Democracy all is actually negotiable.  he got even more pissy...so then i calmly asked him if i needed to contact the FBI, how are we to know which nut job white guy is the next one to take their guns and shoot up people out of frustration.  when they behave like nuts we have no choice now but to question whether they are prone to anger and being irrational.  becoming angry and irrational in this day and age on even a social media site could get you a visit from the FBI.  prove that you are worthy to own a gun and able to keep your temper.  we are forced to have faith that you will not use your guns for evil...it's all we have.

 these feathers of ice are amazing..!

 we are coated in snow now. no cool frost..well some but not tons.  today i could see some cool frost had come in with the fog. 

 from a day out walking with my friends new puppy, Scout.  so cute.  a little black lab.

 he's pretty mellow

 he wasn't sure what to do with Ivy's leaping ways.

 these are out at the beach.

 Tusker is over here looking for treats i think. 

 typical Tusker, he sits and waits for the next tennis ball throw rather than waste energy coming and going. 

 there is my girl. 

 the kids from the school shooting in Florida are making noise.  protesting and all.  very proud of them.  they had a rough realization today as they went to the state house i believe only to see their representatives opt out of voting for more limits on these semi-auto assault type guns.  i hope they keep on though.  do not despair...battles worth the fight are rarely easy.

 those with the most to lose will fight hard to keep what they have.  many live in fear.  it's a sad way to live life.  you have to fight living in fear.  it makes you weak and easy to manipulate.  fear is powerful but you can be stronger than others fear. 

 it is sad though. 

 at a fairly young age i remember thinking that you should be careful but you should not let fear keep you from doing what you want.  calculated risks...then leap.  don't avoid things out of fear that some bad guy will get you.  most of the time you will be safe and as soon as you let bad things and bad guys alter your life plans, they win, they control you. 

 these are from the other week when the sheep were down low.  they often are i guess this time of year.

 super close to the road. they like the salt i have heard.

 they are pretty cute. 

 was debating heading to the grocery store...i probably still could pop over.  get some stuff to carry me through the week of work. maybe some bling for the puppies official birthday photos tomorrow. 

 i have a meet with a guy about kitchen cabinets too.  so i do need to wake up early enough to walk dogs and get to that before i have work.  may take a few meetings.

 the remodel adventure begins...now i have fear...best to just leap though, right? 

 it is after 10 though. bed is calling. 

 Ivy just stopped by to see me.  was just thinking one day she won't be able to jump like she does now and i will cherish that photo.  hard to capture that moment...she is super fast. 

 they just ran outside to bark at something.  may have to intervene. 

 this is from a walk the other day near Portage Lake.  that is the lake though.  different day, same lake.

grateful for:  a.  my less fear based life, again, carpe diem!!  b.  great walk in a beautiful place.  i love Alaska!  c.  health and friends so i can enjoy life to the fullest