Juneau is in the Tongass National Forest, a rain forest, so we get a lot of rain. We went for a walk last Sunday out by the Mendenhall Glacier, which is in one of the national parks. It was a beautiful sunny day, so it wasn't too cold. We went out on one of the paved trails to a photo spot, where we found one of the park rangers sweeping the trail. He said hello to Logan and I, then leaned down to see Elise and say hello to her. She promptly screamed and pulled her hat down over her face. We assured the ranger that it wasn't anything personal, while we pulled Elise out of the stroller and calmed her down. Then we asked about the birds on the sandy beach, and why the beach was roped off. This nice man explained that the Arctic Tern nests on the beach near the glacier. These birds take three months to fly to the Antarctic where they feed for three months, then take three months to fly back to Alaska where they nest. We were amazed. He told us how tracking devices have been place on the birds, and they've been found thousands of miles away in only a couple months. I thought it was incredible how far these birds are willing to go to live, and care for having offspring. That is inspirational to me.
Another inspiration is the beauty we see here. This is a picture of the glacier I took when I first moved to Juneau in July 2004.
What a beautiful place has been created here! What a blessing to live here and enjoy it!
2 comments:
Beautiful picture! I would love to visit Alaska someday. My uncle lives in Soldatna (I have no idea how to spell it) and loves it.
Wow! What a lovely place. Your daughter is getting so big. I don't comment often, but I pop in and read your blog frequently. It is nice to read what is going on in your life. cheers
Post a Comment