Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska moonlight

When I arrived in early April, the snow on the ground had started to melt and yet within days of my arrival there was a new dusting of snow.   As my time evolved, so did the  scenery transform from white into brown and gray.   Not so beautiful but raw and barren.   As spring emerged  in mid May,  green buds appeared on the trees and grass shot up literally overnight.  Once again, I was reminded of the contrasts in this huge, unruly place.

I am not allowed to talk about the  military work according to my contract, but what I can say is that I continue to have the highest regard for our men and women in uniform who are dedicated and committed to serving our country.    It always feels like an honor to give a little to them as they give so much for us.  Now, as a family member myself, I know what it is like to sacrifice and I know what it is like to live between fear and pride.

TRAVEL.     My weekends were filled up mostly with travel to beautiful places.     My life in Anchorage 30 years ago was but a distant memory, set in a time when I was younger and wilder.   I was shocked to realize that my brain could only remember street names and a few businesses here and there.   The rest was like amnesia.   What I discovered is that Alaska is still wild, just like a part of me.

I decided to see as many glaciers as I could …26 in one day…that’s what the tour advertised and they did deliver on their promises.    There was stunning scenery after stunning scenery and I tried to focus on the fact that so few people actually get to see what I was seeing.  Lucky, lucky me.

Seward.  Amazing little fishing town.  Quaint comes to mind.   I took the whale watching cruise and a delightful day watching seals, otters, bald eagles, puffins (they are so cute) and a Mom humpback and her baby splash and blow in the distance.

Seward is a gorgeous fishing village

Denali, highest peak in N. America

Then there was Denali, otherwise known as Mt. McKinley.  Our highest mountain in North America… 20,320 feet high.  In her majestic ways, she alluded us most of the time, creating her own microclimate, mostly hidden behind swirling clouds and snow.

Denali National Park and Preserve...such a unique place,  a sanctuary where animals live truly in their natural habitat and us humans get to have a peak at them from a bus tour where we had to keep everything inside the bus except our cameras.  No hands or arms outside the windows.   And quiet so as to be guests in this sacred, vast territory.    No cars allowed.      There were  caribou, moose standing on the side of the road, dall sheep, a red fox, a nest of falcons, a lynx, bald eagels …And the biggest gift of all…. Ms.  Mama grizzly bear and 2 cubs walked straight up to the bus and laid down.   Thrilling and shocking.  I was grateful to be on the bus and not hiking.

MaMa grizzly and Cub

DANCE. I decided to take up belly dancing and became shocked to find out how many things have to  happen simultaneously in your brain and body at once….hips moving, arms in another direction, and those tiny cymbals called zils on my fingers clacking to the beat of drums.  My teacher was sophisticated, passionate and she had two tattooed eyes that were watchful as we danced behind her.  Carrie.

BellyDancers

I bravely enrolled in an Indian Temple dance class and was mesmerized by this beautiful woman who has spent her lifetime learning the art of Indian temple dance.

And then I tried Bikram yoga.  This, of course, is the hot 102 degrees insane type of yoga.    In one particularly challenging class when  my lungs pleaded &  screamed for a meager bit of cool air, I heard myself say ” if my son  endured Afghanistan in 130 degree heat with full 125 pound armor on, then I can suck it up and finish a silly 90 minute class of heat.”    I calmed down after that and am happy to say that I made it through several classes without throwing up or running out of the room.   Anchorage Yoga.

CONNECT.        The friendliness of the Alaska people is equal to their big hearts.  Once, after my yoga class,  I was blow-drying my hair (trying to recover)  and a very compassionate woman from the class invited me to her home for dinner after realizing I was living in a hotel for 2 months.   I met her charming husband, her delightful kids and neighbors and felt so included and grateful for family connection again.   She knew me for 5 minutes only and invited me to share her family, her home, and her friends.     What an amazing surprise that people can still be so trusting of a complete stranger.

LOVE. I love the beauty of Alaska.  It is wild here, it is big, and it is a place of deep contrasts.  It’s not like any other place I’ve been.

Love....I missed my husband and I missed my family while I was away.  And so my love for them grew even bigger and I became extraordinarily grateful for these people in my life.    There really is no place like home.

I am off again to Alaska in a week.   For a month.  And then to Japan for 2 months.  And in between the hot summer nights, I will find myself on a beach in Mexico, dancing and celebrating my son’s wedding.     How lucky can you get?

Dance Travel Connect Love.   Not a bad life.

Mama Grizzly