I Guess I Never Will

I make jokes about "the more I get to know people the more I like my dog".

Only in reality it's not really a joke.  It's actually the truth.

I have to say that after 50 years I still do not, and guess I never will, really understand what drives people to sometimes do what they do.

I did not inherit my code of conduct - the code for how I deal with people on a day to day basis - from my parents.

Growing up life was chaotic, unsettled and sometimes threatening.

But somehow through that mess I figured out that it was ultimately a better way to live, to try and treat people well. 

Respectfully, with integrity, upfront and real so there was no guesswork involved.  No reading between the lines.  No trying to figure out who was your ally and who was really........not.

No second guessing, trying to figure out what the "end game" actually was.

After 50 years I have to say that I do not, and guess I never will, understand what drives so many people to consciously and with intent, treat others in disrespectful, unethical and hurtful ways.

Morals and ethics are a personal thing, so I am judging people by my own personal set of values.

But it does not take a rocket surgeon for an adult to understand the commonly understood traits surrounding right and wrong.

And yet people consciously and deliberately choose to ignore those commonly understood traits everyday, and people get hurt.  And somehow the hurt does not matter to them either.

I do not understand that.  And I guess I never will.........

I woke up on Tuesday morning with a feeling that I have not had in a while, but one which I remember well and immediately recognized.  I was getting a bladder infection.

I stupidly ignored it throughout Tuesday - ignoring it at work and then ignoring it after work and walking by the river instead of going to the doctor.

By Wednesday morning I was in pain and a little feverish. 

Realizing that I could ignore it no longer, I went to a clinic, waited for what seemed like a very long time and then spent time getting tests and listening to a nurse practioner (a displaced lady from Connecticut and then California) talk extensively about her love of Alaska.

A nice enough lady, but being at the clinic took a long time and a lot of energy, and all I wanted to do was get drugs and go home to bed.

I walked out $51 poorer, but with a prescription in hand and a diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infection.  Yup - a bladder infection.

Another 45 minutes at Fred Meyers Pharmacy and I was finally on my way home to bed.

I slept for almost three hours yesterday afternoon, and my dog stayed with me the entire time, sleeping right beside me on the bed.

She is a very intuitive dog.  When my Mountain Boy was very sick down in Tennessee, she stayed by his side through the entire episode.

When we are upset or unsettled about something Jamie knows, and hovers protectively and watchfully beside us.

When I fell asleep on the couch again in the evening she lay on the couch with me, using my legs as her pillow.

I wrote about Jamie in my last blog post.

I do not think that in reality that we adopted her.

I think that she adopted us........

Woke up this morning feeling very tired, with less pain, but with a headache and a head that felt fuzzy and totally disconnected from the rest of my body.

In addition to a bladder infection I feel like I have a head......something.  Not the flu.  A slight temperature but not a high temperature.  Exhaustion. 

Went to work for a few hours today and then gave it up.  Went home and slept some more.........

On an unexpectedly sunny and warm Tuesday after work I met my Mountain Boy at Montana Creek, which is located off the Back Loop. 

This natural area is a wonderfully beautiful and quiet place - an extensive series of flat and open gravel trails that are great for easy walking and mountain biking during most of the year and cross country skiing in the winter, the usually raging Mendenhall River, and a series of lovely ponds.

Mendenhall Glacier and the mountain range behind it is clearly visible from the river banks........

We set my rubber duck free on the Mendenhall River, and then slowly walked and talked and snapped pictures as we made our way along the river bank........

A series of vapor trail pictures, as the jet sped by the mountains........

And LC doing what LC does so readily - initiating easy conversation with strangers and making friends with big (and in this case small) happy Alaskan dogs.............

After wandering away from the river we hit another trail and found this beautiful serene pond.

The pond was deep and with a sandy bottom, and we both kicked ourselves, wondering why we had forgotten this place when Chris was here.

It would have been a fine place to fish, and perhaps if they had fished at Montana Creek both Chris and LC would not have spent so much time and money replacing lures that got caught up and then lost on the rocky beaches closer to home..........

The clouds and the trees reflected in the pond...........

We picked up yet one more trail, and took pictures from the back end of the pond.........

One of a number of easy trails that we wandered on a calm and sunny Tuesday late-afternoon.......

The rafting outfitters put-in at the Skaters Cabin, across Mendenhall lake and close to the glacier.

Not surprisingly, the lake feeds directly into the fast moving Mendenhall River, making it an excellent rafting site.

As we were making our way back to the vehicles, and again walking along the river bank we came across these rafters enjoying the small rapids........

We made one more stop on the way home, pulling off at an overlook that I have stopped at probably hundreds of times since arriving in Juneau.

Because of the different fog bank and cloud configurations that change hourly (sometimes within just minutes) this place always looks different to me. 

Every time I stop.

I have stopped here hundreds of times and never ever get tired of seeing it.

And at this time of year, when days are finally and rapidly becoming shorter, we were lucky enough to come across this beautiful sunset..........

One more picture of the rafters.

Before the overlook and before heading home, we made our way to the Valley and Chinese slash Vietnamese slash Japanese food (at least that is what the sign outside the restaurant said - and truth be known I am not exactly sure what we ate but it was very good)..........

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.......William Shakespeare