A Beautiful Rainy Day

As I sit here writing, I am looking out over the water.  Misty clouds blanket the snow capped peaks that ring the inlet.  Darlie calls it God's garland.  Frosty white blankets of rain move up the valley obscuring the mountain sides for a time.  Harbor traffic is at a stand still.  The first evening lights shine from the village across the way.  Rain drops play a soothing lullaby on the roof of the motor home.

I am a guy who loves white sand beaches, palm trees and balmy weather but I find myself loving Alaska.  When we first arrived here six weeks ago, I was ready to turn around.  But Alaska begins to beguile you and entice you with her beauty like a seductress.

The thought of leaving here soon makes me a bit blue.  I have come to love this place.  I understand why so many visit here and never leave.  It is uncrowded.  There is no city hustle or noise.  Wild creatures are an every day part of your environment.  The waters team with fish pushing their way to glacier fed streams to lay the foundation for the next generation of their kind.  They provide a bountiful harvest for seals, sea lions, sea otters, bears, birds and man.  Their numbers are so large, enough survive to replenish the stock.  It is like God created them for one reason, to feed many.  Personally, I think chickens fall into the same category.  :-)

Today, from our perch above the inlet, we watched purse seiners catching salmon.  They collected tons of  splashing masses of fish.  They were pumped from the net with a huge suction device to a waiting processor ship.  A river of fish slid into the holds.  Soon they will show up on store shelves in cans all over the world.

For campers, there are endless places to spend the night.  There are thousands of wide spots to pull off the road and set up camp with views that are unmatched anywhere I have ever been.  It is vast, wild, and forbidding but it seems to reach out and beckon you to come near.  This mild interlude is deceiving.  This is a land that can kill those who are unskilled and unprepared in winter.  I am not ready for that challenge but it does entice me.  What is it like?  Could I endure?  Would I find it as alluring as it is now with wildflowers in bloom?

Our neighbors the past few days where a young family from Fairbanks.  They were stationed up here in the Air Force for a lengthy time.  They were from the lower 48 but had no desire to return.  Winter is so awesome.  On cold winter nights when the northern lights appear, they go out in the snow and make snow angels three feet deep.  The snow protects them from the wind and cold.  They lie there watching a celestial display like no other.  For hours they watch not minding the cold.

Staying active during the long winter nights is a major priority.  If you don't stay active you will get depressed.  There are a lot of hours of darkness.  Nights with a moon light up like day.  Moon beams shining on ice crystals create a beauty that must be seen.  It is a good time to go cross country skiing or snowmobiling.  Our friends tell us after weeks of nearly -50 days, when the temperature reaches 20 degrees, the shorts and tee shirts come out.  No wonder people are swimming when it is 55 degrees and the ice has just gone off the pond.

Darlie and I are already talking about the possibility of making this trip again next year.  The places we loved in the Rockies are far more busy than here.  And the don't do this and that signs everywhere........
There is none of that here.  I guess up here they don't take people to be that stupid that they have to be managed so completely.  I love that sense of freedom in Alaska.  Though the population has grown it is still the last frontier.  It says so right on their car tag.

We will sleep well tonight listening to the rain on the roof.  Snuggled down under a pile of comforters and flannel sheets, I will sleep like a bear in hibernation.  I can hear Darlie snoring in the bedroom already....or is that Buddy.  They sound alike.