More Alaska Musings

Well, I have been home over a week, and it has taken me this long to process my 5 day Alaskan trip. Below are a few photos from the 3 day wilderness kayaking & camping trip I took with my sister. Just looking at these photos takes me back to the wilderness--with no human noises, just serene quiet with shorebirds crying and the swish of our paddles in the saltwater. I remember the both the clean but brackish smell of the tidal area, and the whoosh of the porpoise that surfaced in front of us. The loons which called their special song would come right up to us in our kayak, and the seals would curiously poke their heads up out of the water to check us out. Mys sister told me that the seal population---once very abundant in Glacier Bay-- has mysteriously dropped by 70% in the past few years--and no one know why.

I have been thinking quite a bit about the climate crisis and what this may mean for the Alaska wilderness I love. While traveling through Bellingham, Washington and visiting to friends there--a friend suggested to me that we could encourage each other to make our changes in our lifestyles (which will help the earth) in small steps--for instance, instead of giving up one's car altogether (which I have done--see previous post) one could just decide to give up driving one day a week. If everyone did this--the impact would be enormous! (Let's start a movement!) Or give up eating meat one day a week--you decide what---but please do something. I must say that for me, taking some action--however small--keeps me from slipping into despair about the climate crisis situation.

Back to my Alaskan trip---I feel blessed to be able to make this kind of wilderness trip--I am well aware that millions of Americans have never had this experience, which so profoundly affects one's soul. For me, this time in the wilderness makes living in the crowded and --yes--polluted Bay Area of California bearable---at least until my next trip to Alaska.