A Reminder Of The Human Condition

I found a thin layer of ice coating my windshield this morning.

As I drove from Out the Road heading towards Auke Bay I regarded the sky because, after almost two months of rain the sky was stunningly beautiful.

It was still barely daylight but as I drove past the overlooks and looked up at the snow covered mountains directly in front of me I knew that unexpectedly it was going to be a very very gorgeous day.

By the time I got to the ferry terminal the clear sky demanded my attention, and so did the high straight-line clouds and fog.

Not the clouds and fog of too-many-weeks-past.  These clouds did not mean rain.  And this fog was not the reality of one more grey day.

I smiled in anticipation of the promise for this day.

By the time I was past the Valley and was making my way into Juneau in earnest, the fog had gradually increased until eventually Douglas Island and even Gastineau Channel disappeared completely.

But still...........the blue was there, coming out from hiding occasionally only to disappear back into the fog again.....but there.  Strong enough and definite enough to eventually dominate the sky.

And by 9am there it was.

The promise became the reality...........

I sat in my office trying to work but barely able to see my computer screen because the sun was shining so brightly through my windows.

That problem does not happen often, but it is not a bad problem to have.

By 10:45 I finally was able to break free from my corporate office bondage for a while, having arranged a meeting last week for this morning at a coffee shop located not far from my work........

After the meeting I left my car in the parking lot, walked across Egan Drive, stood by the channel and looked out over the mountains.

My first picture was of these seagulls.  Unlike the grey waters of so many past weeks the very cold channel was glistening and blue...........

Mountains over on Douglas.........

Looking down the channel towards town.

Juneau mountains are on the left and Douglas mountains are on the right........

If you click on this picture you will see where the Mt Roberts Tramway docks at the top of the mountain.

Snow up there right next to the tram dock and visitors center............

Mountains off in the far distance.

I do not know how many miles these mountains are from here, and during the summer they tend to disappear on the horizon.

But when they are covered in snow they are stunning.

They will be very beautiful as winter progresses...........

When I was taking pictures of Douglas Island the sun was facing me, and the glare was so strong that I could see nothing in the view finder of my camera.  

I literally point-and-shot many of these pictures blind hoping that some of them would come out OK......

Mountains in front of me, and this mountain directly behind me.

The federal building and an apartment building on the left and an extremely dicey and down-and-out motel on the right..........

Egan Drive heading into Juneau.

This place is about a mile from downtown.

Egan Drive (that is Glacier Highway once it gets beyond the Valley) parallels the channel all the way from the End of the Road to downtown.........

On the spur of the moment I decided to walk to the Juneau-Douglas Bridge, walk half way up the bridge and take more pictures of the channel.

The day was too beautiful to go back to work yet.

I had to be out just a little while longer.

It was very very cold - close to freezing and windy, and while I was walking I realized that I was not wearing enough clothing.

No hat and no gloves, and the wind hurt my ears and gave me a headache.

I didn't care.

It was a very very beautiful day and I had no idea how many beautiful days we would get before everything turned grey and wet again.

Walking on the footpath part way along the length of the bridge. 

Still in Juneau with Douglas directly in front of me..........

Views as I was making my way coldly but contentedly towards the center of the bridge..........

I walked to the center of the bridge for this............

And for this..........

There is no sidewalk on the opposite side of the bridge so I shot this picture from across the road...........

More pictures taken from the Juneau side.........

There are mile-markers located at every mile from downtown Juneau all the way to the End of the Road.

It is very common to give or receive directions based on mile markers (as in "The trail head is located on the right, 100 yards past Mile Marker 26") .........

When I left my work today I walked outside to the parking lot and looked up at the mountains that surrounded me.

It was 4:30 in the afternoon and not quite but almost dark, and I saw the snow glistening on the mountains.

When I got home tonight I took my very excited dog for a walk.

We walked down to the bottom of our road and stopped at the cove.

My headlamp made the water ripple with lights.

And when I looked up at the sky it was perfectly cold and clear. 

There were thousands of stars, the moon was almost but not quite full and the early evening was very quiet.

It was an unexpected gift of a day...........

Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966