A solitary hike to the top of a local dome is more than invigorating.
Recharging one’s batteries, feeding the wander lust, relieving stir craziness, seeing the sun set at midnight over Dawson City.
Simple, quiet (except singing the bears away).
Tag Archives: humour
A fish flew into my bus…
…or, a well-educated frog says to the chicken, when referring to talkative Peggy’s getting ditched at a roadside stop with a pile of books, “reddit.”
To travel with companions in these moments on “tew-er,” when the tour director, for safety, carries a can of bear spray to ward off humans more than Ursus arctos horribilis the question one bears when one bares one’s thoughts is this:
What is respect? One thousand years from now, what is one accomplishing when framing the digital photographs below? When will the word “photograph” disappear from common usage? Will future tourists read guides about tours of today that follow historic events which were tours, too (e.g., economic tours like the Klondike gold rush at the turn of the 20th century)?
In other words, who mines whom? Are we tourists prospected like mother lode gold veins?
Rhetorical questions? Of course.
Back to uncaptioned images:
Kino Keno
Sunrise: 4:46, sunset: 12:02
When the outdoor temp reaches 22 deg C (77 deg F), then the Dawson City Music Festival is just a day away.
Right now, it’s “ish” time, as in “We’ll meet at 8, give or take 15 minutes.”
I shall move my thoughts to the silence of growing things…
Life is full of opera maternities
On this day of days, when heat ravages the interiour of continents, when one’s continence has contents, if not context, we ask if a cup of coffee is better than a pot of potential or a pitcher of beer.
Meditation is being here and now in the here and now, if not the hoosegow.
Time for caffeine and contemplation of spruce trees, moose crossing roads and Rhodes scholars wearing collars…
Five pups on a log
So far, on this trip through central Alaska on the way to Canada, I’ve learned that the student visa/exchange program is alive and well. Tonight, a young lady named Karjah from Jamaica, to name one who traveled to Tok, Alaska, for summer work.
We take a journey because the final destination is well known. We remember and honour our ancestors through continuous learning along the way.
Plenty more to thank: Dan, our driver/guide/geologist; Hannah (“Raena k’rana” in Athabascan?), steamboat Discovery guide, grandpa still in village, she getting educated at Univ. of Alaska – Fairbanks; Nic(ole), Rachel – gift shop sales; fellow travelers like Aidan and Doug Collins; Ashley (“Koo’kook” in Athabascan?); Steph; Lance Mackie; Rynda, Josie, Joan and Pat at Santa House; Sarah at Rika’s Roadhouse; Hugh, Julie, Caribou, Brooke, Kelvin, Karjah and Sheila at Westmark Tok; Van Voorhis from Ellington, CT.
Fly Fishing in America
Well, guess I oughta thank a few people for their kindness and generosity: Scott Hummel and other volunteers at Fountainhead Museum; Stephanie and others at Bear Lodge; Dylan, Eric and Brittany onboard McKinley Explorer; Elessa (a/k/a Y1TA (“Yita”)); Pat at Denali Park Depot Gift Shop; Anna, Kelly and Moldova at Prospectors Pizza; Rick and Alex at Denali Fly Fishing Tours; George Hamilton of Denali National Park tours; Alan Olsen of Black Diamond ATV; Anya (from Russia) and Sophia Ferrell of Courtyard Cafe; Edna S of Holland America; Carly J Mooney (more on her later) and other performers/cooks at Cabin Nite; Joe, Chris, Dawn and Scott of Holland America train car; drivers like Thomas A; Jeremy of Glacier Brewhouse; workers of Toklat Visitor Center; people who wave at people waving back on trains; smiling faces of fellow passengers; more as time permits…
Image-laden blog entries continue:
Denali Diversion
So many to thank, too tired to think, too much fun in inclement weather:
Territory is a unique experience
Seems odd, definitely surreal, sitting in a wooden chair in a guest room of the McKinley Chalet Resort, writing this blog entry at 20:56 local (Alaska) time, strong WiFi signal connecting me to the world not far from the tallest mountain peak in North America, Denali, also known as Mount McKinley.
A land/sea tour for the comfortable middle class, sharing the wealth with hearty bodies, providing this moment.
The surreal continues…
Yesterday, my niece stood next to and shook the hand of the President of the United States of America, a photo of the two of them together appearing on MSNBC and Reuters International.
Today, my wife and I rode on a train that stopped in Wasilla, Alaska, USA, home to a former U.S. state governor and U.S. Vice President candidate, Sarah Palin.
But this is more than a journal entry in a travelogue.
This philosophical dissertation in miniature asks, “I know my destination but do I know where I’m going?”
What are we doing here together, you and I, observing a minute spot in the universe?
What are we trying to accomplish by interacting with the tour director/concierge, driver guide, train staff and hotel gift shop clerks?
In a moment like this, we live.
We allocate resources not only for larger missions outside of this spacetime but also nail down this spacetime in words and images.
All Ready To Go
Ever tried to keep up with all the people, places and names you encounter in the outer space of an inner social pace?
Well, it turns out that nametags are a key part of keeping up with the fellow travelers wandering the planet.
For instance, the nametags a company gives its employees.
I have fuzzy vision, especially in the morning when I’m not quite awake or the evening after partying drinking having a late-night snack.
Visit a hotel or tourist area in that condition and visualising the labels attached to a person’s lapel or chest can be daunting.
Especially the way the label/nametag is made.
For me, black letters on a white background are the easiest to read.
The most difficult are black letters on a shiny, gold background at the Westmark Hotel, where the staff is some of the most friendly you’ll meet but reading their names in order to memorise and later recall them here frustrates me on this rainy day in the paradise of the Pacific Northwest.
A few to thank today: Elizabeth, Doreen, Brendan; Tom; more to follow. To those whose names I have not written here, I apologise for the fuzziness of middle-aged eyes and having too much of a good time! 😉
ManlyMan lip lube – lubricate/moisturize/protect
How many animals have I killed today?
I ate reindeer sausage, bought a fox tail, wore leather shoes, tried on a T-shirt dyed with octopus ink, and walked through a city paved with fossil fuel.
I also bought organic tea and handmixed honey.
On the 12th floor of a highrise hotel, I try to feel the dampened vibrations of the planet through my feet, relying on the repercussions and reverberations in the air to tell me what I sense signals future events. Nothing indicates to me a pending disastrous earthquake here on the Pacific Rim.
No matter where I am — standing in the shade of a storefront while eating a popcicle made with locally-grown rhubarb, sitting in a trendy cafe, walking down a street crowded with tourists, or zoned out in Zone 1 — I who does not exist am part of this planet’s ecosystem, joyously participating in the pain and happiness that I call yours/mine/ours.
The universe is here amusing me nonstop.
Not far from the view of Russia in Sarah Palin’s backyard is a microcosm, an irregular United Nations, of people from around the world giving capitalism its due. Anchorage, AK, is OK with me, O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A.
One World Order? Already done.
Global economy? In full cyclical swing.
One summer we’re making fun of global warming while the air temp is 115 deg F and the next summer we’re wishing for hot weather — same summer, different parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
A few websites for the day: www.katiesevignystudio.com, www.facebook.com/soapdishdiva, www.onceinabluemoose.com, alaskanutandhoney.com, www.tundracomics.com
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Thanks to many, including: Julia at cAKe bakery; Madison, Monique and others at Once In A Blue Moose, organisers of Anchorage Market & Festival; Masha; Katie at Sevigney Studio Art; Zach Tundra Comics; James at Soap Dish Diva; Gail Jones at Alaskan Valley Nectar; Polar Bear Gifts Outlet Store; David Green Furs; Melissa at Snow City Cafe; Gina and her handcarved art; belly dancers; paperazzi; Evon Zerbetz; Ashley Schweizer of HollandAmerica; Westmark; and more!
treetrunkdings 