Walk Away Quietly

I woke this morning and did what I have done every morning since I arrived at the hotel for my extended stay almost 3 weeks ago - looked out the large sliding glass door that oversees the Gastineau Channel, and the massive wild and untamed mountains on Douglas Island.  Only this morning the channel, the mountains and even the island had disappeared completely in the fog.

When I stepped outside I took the above picture.  It is of the mountain usually in full view behind the hotel, and it also was almost completely obscured by the fog.

More pictures of Juneau when it is completely socked in.  In the first one, the entire channel and Douglas mountain range has completely vanished.

The mountains usually so visible behind this residential area have also completely disappeared.

4 hours later (by noon) the sky was begining to turn blue as predicted in the weather forecast I had seen that morning, and the fog (little by little) was beginning to burn off

By mid-afternoon I had a meeting in the Valley and the sky was perfectly, wonderfully and absolutely clear. 

After my meeting, and in no hurry to head immediately back to my office, I took a few minutes to snap a few more pictures.  These are taken close to a wonderful paved walking and biking trail in the Valley

On the way back to the hotel after work I stopped at a Salvation Army second-hand store and found this quilt top, that I paid $2 for.  I will add it to a collection of quilts and quilt tops that I have been collecting for about 10 years now.

As indescribably beautiful as this place is, there are often times when I have to work very hard to remember to see and feel Juneau. 

It's not in my nature to stop, contemplate, see and feel.  Rather, it is in my nature to rush, to drive hard, to push, to strive.  But I keep trying to remember to take it slow.  I keep trying to remember to see and feel.  I keep trying to remember to be gentle - with myself, with those I love, and with those who love me.  It's hard to do - but I keep trying.

One final picture taken from the balocony of the hotel at the end of the day. 

Today in Juneau began as a completely socked-in heavy-fog day, and it ended as the first of what is forecasted to be a 5 day or so string of mostly sunny weather.  Good deal!!

Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail.......John Muir