My Shoe Fetish

It's been a crazy-busy past couple of days at work - a couple of days that left little time and energy to either take pictures or make blog entries.  In between meetings a couple of days ago I snapped these two pictures in downtown Juneau.  They are yet more microcosms of the nature that surrounds this city and that is always within easy arms' length.

Every tree and bush that I see bringing new growth is exciting.  So are the flowers that are beginning to appear all over the city, surrounding both office buildings and personal homes.  After months of cold and dormancy, the city is waking up and embracing the newness of the season.  Spring, anticipation of the upcoming tourist season, the cleanup all over the city that is taking place, is all very exciting to witness.  First cruise ship arrives early next week.  Here we go.............

Inside the Assembly Chambers of the City Hall building downtown is a very large painting.  It is a beautiful work of art, depicting icons from this state.  I did not get the artists' name, although there was a plaque beside the painting describing the artist and his background.  But these are two pictures I took of the painting - the first is only one section, and the second is the entire work of art (about 6 feet in length in total).  It is even more wonderful when viewed in person.

The past few days have been mild, cloudy, foggy, and with rain varying from drizzle to brief but heavy downpours.  Pictures of downtown.....

A sad picture of homelessness.  I saw this man sleeping in this same place at the Marine Park, two days in a row.  I see this man very often downtown.  He is native Alaskan, fairly old, wheelchair-bound, and usually when I see him he is sitting in the doorway of a store downtown.  He always smiles at me, always says hello, and I always respond in kind.  I don't know who he is, or what his story is.  Mostly I am lacking in pity or understanding when it comes to the homeless but I have often wondered what brought this man to this place.  It is a sad situation - made sadder by both his age and physical condition......

Low lying clouds and fog that have owned the mountains surrounding Juneau for the past few days.

After work this afternoon I went trail running on the trail in Auke Bay that leads to John Muir Cabin. 

After a good deal of initial climbing I came to the John Muir Cabin trailhead intersection.  The past two times I have hiked this trail I have indeed turned left towards the cabin.  However, today I continued straight - curious to know what this new trail held.

Interesting metal objects from some type of large equipment.  No idea what these are, and these were the only two such pieces that I ran into.  I took a picture of them because I liked the shape of the pieces, and because they raised my curiosity - what were they?  how did they get here?  how long have they been here?  Only questions.  No answers.

Once I reached this wooden plank portion of the trail I moved from open meadows and continued with more climbing.  These wooden plank trails are located all over Juneau, and they make travel through muddy and boggy areas much easier (in addition to being easier on the fragile plant life that grows in these meadows).

Skunk cabbage was most definately a new form of plant life for me.  I had never seen it before, and knew nothing about it.  After doing some research, I love seeing this plant with its' bright yellow flower and what turns out to be very very large green leaves. 

Skunk cabbage is extremely prevalent in the Juneau area.

Eventually I climbed high enough to be able to look out onto the far-off snow-capped mountains......

And then the channel.......

I'm not sure why I took a picture of this funky looking tree.  It just seemed a little lost, ugly, out of place from the rest of the lovely pine trees that were along the trail and out in the surrounding meadows.  When I think about it though, there are a fair number of these strange looking trees that I have seen on many trail hikes since I arrived in Juneau.

My favorite picture from today I think.  High enough for everything to be green and lush, pine trees, beautiful channel view, skunk cabbage, nice view of the wooden trail - in one picture it contains all of the individual pieces that I enjoyed so much during my run this afternoon.

I bought my Mountain Boy another pair of boots at the Salvation Army today.  I paid $3 for them.  This afternoon I made the observation to LC that I seemed to take a lot of pictures of footwear.  I asked him if I had always had a preoccupation with shoes and boots, because until I started this blog I had never really noticed that before.  He confirmed that yes, indeed I have a "thing" about shoes and boots.  Who knew??

I am very very excited that tomorrow I am taking a 4-hour cruise.  I got the last ticket that was available for the trip, and I am really looking forward to it.