Good And Welcome Things

Today was a busy day.

Today was a cold and grey day.

As I was heading to a meeting this afternoon I stopped briefly at a cemetery that is located close to my work.

I used to walk here fairly often when I first started working in Juneau.

But for quite a while now there has not been a lot of time to walk and think and regroup in the middle of the day.

It is one of the reasons I park at the Sub-Port near the Coast Guard Station as often as I can. 

That parking area gives me a built in excuse to find even a few minutes near the water where I can be outside, as I travel on foot to meetings downtown.

This cemetery is a very beautiful, quiet and introspective place.

There are many beautiful and old statues such as the ones above.

There are also many war veterans from all wars in the 20th Century buried here.

It is surrounded by hills and mountains with those in both Juneau and over on Douglas visible.

And this place accesses some of the older back hills residential areas of Juneau............

It took me a minute to read the inscriptions on the two statues above because they are so old. 

One is the grave site of a man and the other is that of a woman.

Both were born in 1888, but the man died in his early 20's and the woman died 30 years later.

They have the same last name.

Brother and sister?  Husband and wife?

I tend to think husband and wife because there are many sites at this cemetery where husbands and wives are buried together.

The statues are graceful, beautifully aged and moss covered.............. 

I only had a few minutes to stop so did not have time to walk today.

This section of the cemetery is filled with some of the oldest sites in the cemetery.

All of these sites are heavily weathered and covered with moss.............

Cloud-shrouded Douglas Island in the background.

And lots of green space and beautiful trees in the foreground.

This is not a place to rush.

It is a place that demands quiet and respect.

It is a place with benches, so visitors can sit and rest and think.............

A hilly intersection that, if you turn left at the Stop sign, leads up to very steep roads behind the city..........

Two homeless people sitting on a bench.

Yesterday, while walking at Marine Park there was two other homeless people drinking from a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag on the boardwalk.

There are many homeless people in Juneau.

I don't know how many, but too many.

I have been stopped for money many times.

This past summer, while walking to various places at various times downtown, I was stopped three times by the same man who asked me for money.

I don't give money to homeless people. 

I work for my money and don't want to give it away to people who don't work. 

I know that others in Juneau feel differently than I do, and homeless people in this town receive what I consider to be an inordinate level of free programs, services and other special considerations.

I could play the "enabling" vs "helping those who are down" debate-game all day long.

Regardless, homelessness is a social, crime, tourist-town-image issue that apparently the city is not yet ready to confront head on...............

Homes in the hills close to the cemetery............

I had a meeting early into the evening tonight and now that it's just me and Jamie I find myself being constantly worried about my dog.

I found myself sitting in a meeting tonight and clock watching because my dog needed to pee.....

Down in Tennessee she used to love laying over the arm of the couch and looking out the window. 

My house down there is on a quiet residential street, but there was enough car, dog, rabbit, cat and squirrel action to keep her busy and entertained.

Although the Unabomber Cabin is filled with windows they are all too high for her to see out.

And with the house so deeply buried in pine trees, there is not a lot for her to see anyway.

But I might see if I can get my hands on an arm chair for the already too-crowded living room. 

She would not hesitate to stand on it to look outside.

Jamie seems to be doing OK, and now that LC is gone I need her as much as she needs me.

Sleeping with my dog last night was a very good and welcome thing.

And I guess that right now I need good and welcome things more than I realized.

My favorite place in this most unusual but lovely place.............