Wind Songs: The Mountain and I

By April this year the weather was finally warm and spring this year was full of sunshine.

And in April Juneau started waking up, gearing up and sprucing up in anticipation of upcoming tourist season.

Flowers were planted throughout the city in hanging baskets and plantar boxes in front of many stores and homes in town.

Business owners were outside washing and painting their store fronts. Sidewalks were being repaired. It was a very busy month, and excitement downtown was beginning to grow.

And flags were put up all over town - on street lights, on poles in Marine Park downtown, and flags representing every state in the nation were erected on poles leading into the city.

The city grows tens of thousands of flowers from seedlings in greenhouses over the winter, in anticipation of a very active landscaping season.

And by July in Juneau there are literally flowers everywhere you look. It is very beautiful.....

An up-close view on one of three cruiseships that were in port yesterday.

I thought, when I first saw the ships in port and especially when I first saw a cruiseship parked right across the street from City Hall (which was a big shock after seeing Marine Park so quiet for so many months), that they dominated the landscape.

To a certain extent they do, but not as much as they do in a smaller town like Ketchikan where I was early in June.

When a cruiseship docks in the small fishing village of K-town it absolutely dominates.........

Regardless, this is my first summer in a tourist town, and I have enjoyed the experience immensely.

But it can stop anytime now.........

The float plane dock. These planes are extremely busy transporting visitors to the glaciers surrounding this city.

The sky is extremely busy with non-stop landings and taking-offs (takings-off???).....

And a wonderful view of the wonderful island of Douglas.

I have taken pictures of this island hundreds of times.

When it is sunny the mountains dance look like a magical place. When it is foggy and cloudy the mountains look ominous and foreboding. Regardless, it is always beautiful.........

A view taken from the turnaround looking towards both downtown and the mountains behind the city.....

The tourist strip across the road from where the cruiseships dock.

The Mt Roberts Tramway on the way back down to street level.......

One half of a very large native Alaskan scupture, on the outside wall of the downtown library.....

Centennial Hall - a very busy convention center for such a small town. Of course, this small town also happens to be the capital of the state........

A view looking away from town....

The bridge is located directly across from the Prospector Hotel where I stayed through the month of February.

The hotel rooms have balconies, and I spent a lot of time standing on the balcony looking out over the channel and Douglas, and taking pictures of this bridge - in all kinds of weather, at all hours of the day and night.......