My Spring Saturday - Part 2

What a difference a week makes!  Last Saturday I was walking deep in the snow and pine trees of the Eaglecrest Ski Resort mountains. 

Today I was walking in the warmth and sunshine, and enjoying the sandy beach and freedom of being outdoors over on Douglas Island South.  Enjoying the sight of small boats and personal aircraft, and the sound of the large dogs and the laughing children that belonged to the residents of Juneau Alaska on a beautiful spring weekend day.  

After bailing out of the afternoon training sessions that were still taking place at the yacht club, I drove to the beach to walk and wind down. 

Today I watched Juneauites at their most layed back and relaxed.  They love the outdoors.  They relish the sun.  Today they loved to laugh and be with their friends and their families. 

And I really enjoyed watching these friendly people embracing the new season. 

I saw children playing in the sand and swinging on the playground equipment.  I watched dogs running on the beach and having great fun running into the water to scare the seagulls.  I watched people walking and holding hands, and people sitting close and talking with each other on logs by the water.  I watched kite flying, boating, aircraft flying, picnicing, people playing beach volleyball and baseball and soccer.  There were countless joggers. 

When I left Douglas and unexpectedly found the Skaters Cabin later in the day, I saw people walking their dogs, kayaking on the lake, and someone even playing the flute on the beach.

So many ways to get in touch with their enjoyment of each other,  and so many different ways to commune with their obvious love of both nature and the warm spring season.  It was a very good day............

I walked the Treadwell Historic Mine Trail earlier in the year and took many pictures of relics - including many old and still-standing buildings and large pieces of rusted equipment - all of which made for an extremely interesting trail hike on an icy Saturday afternoon in January.  

A large piece of mining equipment stands almost as a piece of art, near the entrance to the trail. 

Even though it was a wonderfully sunny day, it was very windy and cool by the water.  Which made for great kite flying weather.  I watched this guy battling the winds, struggling to hang onto his kite, but having a great time the whole while......

A brief article in the Juneau Empire about the history of the Treadwell Mine:  http://www.juneauempire.com/visit/hiking/treadwell.shtml

And here is a Youtube video showing some of the historic trail, and much of the old buildings and mining relics:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMh5S9j8gp8

I did walk briefly on the trail today, but my head was much more focused on walking aimlessly in the sand.....

There are many rusted old pieces of mining equipment on both the trails and on the beach.

I like my car well enough, but I really miss my truck.  I miss being able to just throw my bike or my kayak into the back of it and just go......wherever I want to go........a trail........the lake......

I miss my truck.  I miss my mountain bike (that is a women's specific bike, a little smaller than the one I have been using since I arrived in Juneau, has spd pedals for greater pedaling efficiency, a women's specific seat, a bike computer, and which is just "mine" and not "borrowed"). 

And I miss my kayak - not the ocean-going kayaks that you see so often in Juneau.  Mine is shorter, wider, more stable but very likely slower than the typical boats you see up here.  And mine has a sticker of the little boy Calvin and Hobbs character on the front of it.  Life is short....kayak naked.

After leaving Douglas Island I fully intended to just head home.  Instead, when I arrived in Auke Bay I took a right onto the Back Loop Road.  I didn't have any particular plan or destination in mind.  But it was still very sunny, very warm, and although I was heading towards home I was not quite ready to go there just yet.

On a whim I took a road to the left (I don't actually even remember which one off-hand right now) and surprisingly found this wonderful place.........Skaters Cabin.  I had heard of it, but new nothing about it.

Regardless, it was gorgeous.  WOW - the other side of the glacier!!!  The lake.  Small icebergs that had calved from the glacier.  More sandy beach and pine trees and sunshine and folks just doing the outdoor-thing.

I called my Mountain Boy, and as with many other conversations I have had with him over these past months, this one began with "you're not gonna believe what I've just found!............"

When I was done taking pictures of this area, I started to walk back to the car.  And all of a sudden I heard music coming from the far end of the beach.  I looked for the source of the music, and realized that there was one man standing alone on the beach playing a flute.  It was all very quiet and very soothing and very nice....

I watched two kayakers for quite a while.  The owner of a red kayak got into his boat by the shore, and competently and unwaveringly set out onto the lake.  It was windy, the water was choppy, and eyeing the lake it was obvious that the water was very cold.

The owner of the yellow kayak in contrast, stayed close to the shoreline for a long time - and then after a while he actually paddled backwards even closer to the shore and climbed out of his boat.  Did he have second thoughts?  From a distance, and having watched many paddlers over the years, it was obvious that this person was new to this.....

But eventually he did indeed head out onto the water, and I watched him for a long time.  Willing him to stay upright, hoping his confidence increased out there, wishing that I had my boat and that I was out there with him.

Soon enough..........

My Spring Saturday - Part 1

I set the alarm to get up early this mornng so I could stop at a couple of yard sales before going to the emergency preparedness training in downtown Juneau that I had signed up for weeks ago. 

The morning was beautiful, and I mentally decided, as I drove down Glacier Highway that I would at least stay with the training for the morning, and then make a decision as to whether or not I would stick it out through the afternoon sessions......

Happily, I saw two does running along the highway while driving towards Auke Bay this morning.  Deer sightings in Tennessee are very very common, but in all of my travels in Juneau over the past 3 1/2 months, I have only seen a total of three deer (one a couple of months ago who almost stepped right out in front of my car Out the Road, and these two this morning - seen very close to the same area as the first)..........

Every day on the way to work I drive past Auke Lake, and there are many many times where the lake is as smooth as glass, and the mountains and pine trees are reflected back in the calm water. 

I have never stopped to take a picture of the lake when it looks like that because the parking lot is on the opposite side of the highway from the direction I am travelling on my way into town, and during rush hour and during the week there is just too much traffic to be bothered with.  On the way home at the end of the day, the water is inevitably rougher. 

At 7:30 on a Saturday morning though, I discovered that the traffic is quiet.  And on this morning I was pleased to pull over and take this picture.  The picture looks like a postcard, and I wish I could say that it was because of my wonderful photographic skills. 

But in reality I just think that there is no way to mess up a photograph when you are lucky enough to have such a natural work of art presented before you.....and Auke Lake is a wonderful work of art.

  

I stopped at two yard sales on the way to town.  The first one was at a horse farm between Auke Bay and the Valley, and I was very excited to have an excuse to see horses up close again - something that I have not seen since Tennessee.  When I arrived I was sorry to see though, that these horses were eating hay from hay feeders while all standing in deep mud.  There was no grass growing in their field at all, and no place really for them to run.  I was not happy to see this......

At the two yard sales I bought a wooden filing cabinet, two throw cushions, a small area rug, soapstone eskimo carving, bear and pine tree candle holder, a fleece vest and two fleece sweaters all for $17.  I was very pleased with my finds.

The emergency preparedness training was designed for civilian locals, and provided information on community resources, identifying emergency situations ranging from natural disasters to terrorism, communication, evacuation, stay-in-place plans, emergency supply kits etc. It was interesting.  Some of it was very interesting.  And some of it was information that I was already familiar with.

We had a 10 minute break every 90 minutes or so, and I took these pictures during those times.  The event was located at the Juneau Yacht Club.  This facility is located adjacent to the Aurora Boat Harbor downtown, and on this beautiful and sunny day, with mountains and the channel all around me there was no shortage of picture taking opportunities.  A beautiful place on a beautiful day.

I stayed with the training until mid-afternoon and then left during one of the scheduled breaks.  At first I felt guilty about leaving early - until I drove across the Juneau Douglas bridge that is, and headed to Douglas beach on the south side of the island.  More on this in my next blog post.

One last picture from Auke Lake this morning

The Wonder Of A Sunset

On this beautiful, sunny and warm Friday the outdoors called to me constantly.  I had to ignore that call as I was stuck indoors most of the day, caught up in the minutiae of making a living.  A battle of wills between me and the world that I won, although it was a battle that, on this wonderful spring day I wish I had had the luxury of being able to lose.    

After work I drove out to the Valley to visit with coworkers, and do what people across the country do on a sunny and late Friday afternoon - drink beer out on the patio in the back yard, sit in the warm sun, eat a burger and talk of plans for the weekend.

I am signed up to take an all-day emergency preparedness training seminar tomorrow.  All day today I waged yet one more internal battle - whether to attend this training that seemed like a good idea to sign up for a few weeks ago, or skip the training altogether and head for a trail somewhere.  

On this clear Friday (with the prospect of yet another sunny day tomorrow) being stuck in a classroom on a Saturday did not seem like such a great idea...... 

On the way home I stopped while still in the Valley, to take pictures of a very small lake surrounded by mountains.  This lake is located right in the middle of a busy residential area - a small and very beautiful green space.  On this evening it was full of people walking, playing on the playground equipment, riding their bicycles, and (in one case) out on the man-made lake in a small rowboat.  A quiet place in the middle of a busy space......

In the center of the park is a plaque and flag pole - a place to remember and to reflect on those who died on 9-11.

My youngest son has been in the Air Force for 3 1/2 years, and has served two tours in Iraq.  When he was a senior in high school he started receiving the same calls my oldest son had also received all the way through his senior year.  The recruiters of all branches of the military doing what recruiters do.  Making the calls, making the promises, pushing to get my boys signatures and have them sign their life away to their country for a few years.

My oldest son always knew that he wanted to go to college.  But my youngest son wanted to join the military.  And in his senior year I talked him out of it, and talked him into going to college instead.

He did go to college, and floundered on campus lost and unhappy for two years. 

Then one day he called me while I was at work and told me that he was at a recruiting center.  I think he called me to feel me out - to see how I felt about it now, to see if I would try to talk him out of it again.  I didn't.  I asked him what branch and he said Air Force.  I didn't ask him if he was going to join up.  I just asked him to come see me at work when he was done and I would take him out for lunch.

A few months later he was in San Antonio TX going through basic training.  A couple of months later I was in San Antonio to see him graduate. 

In just a few months he moved from a boy unsure of what he was going to do with his life or where he was headed, to a man standing tall and feeling good about his decision.

I have watched these two boys in awe over the past few years as they have successfully moved from boyhood to manhood, and have watched proudly as one graduated from college and one graduated from basic training.  They are carving out lives for themselves, and learning how to make their own way in the world.

One of three young boys who were sometimes taking turns and sometimes rowing together in this small boat on this small lake in the middle of Alaskan suburbia.

Close to home I paused for a few minutes at an overlook on Glacier Highway.  How could I not?  When I stopped to take these pictures I suddenly realized that I had seen very few sunsets since I arrived in Juneau. 

I have stopped at this overlook many times.  Sometimes when it was cloudy and rainy, sometimes when it was foggy and the hills and mountains were completely obscured.  I have stopped in the snow. 

But sunset at the overlook is yet one more unexpected gift that Juneau gracefully hands to those people willing to pause for just a few minutes along the highway. 

Today it was a gift for me.

When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator......Mahatma Gandhi