Things I Forgot

You know when you have your first Twinkie or Oreo in the last year and you take that first bite and think, "Damn! These are good! Why have I waited so long to have one?" and then you eat the whole bag? Yeah, I'm having that kind of moment in Alaska. Every day I am reveling in some newly remembered piece of living here and wondering why I've been gone for so long.

There are bald eagles everywhere.

I love their cry. (Don't watch the whole thing - it gets boring - just listen to the eagle in the first several seconds.)

The other day I was walking to work from Mia's and I walked by several of them in a tree top. They were chattering back and forth to each other in the tree. It was an amazing sound that makes my heart happy. In Oregon, I always look up at the sky and get excited when I see the shape of a raptor until I realize that it is just a hawk or a falcon close up and not a eagle soaring up high.

There are also ravens.

I can see why the Native Alaskans from this area adopted the Raven and the Eagle as the emblems of their tribes. They are both amazing birds, clever and beautiful. The raven call is also very distinctive and far prettier than a crow's caw.

Then there are the misty, cloudy days when every thing is gun metal grey.

The melding of mountain, snow, trees, water and landscape.

I love looking around me here and just seeing God. Alaska is just so...monumental...grand. I miss that in Oregon. There is nothing really larger than life, nothing to remind me that I am small, nothing and that this is all momentary. Here, I can see beyond myself, even for a moment, and feel a little more calm. (Of course, that peace is still ruined the moment my children whine but for that moment....bliss.)

And then there's the glacier. No pictures to post yet (yes I'm aware that there is a miracle hanging on this and yes I know it would be a huge shame to miss my favorite part of town but there it is). Stay tuned.