Warm Weather

There was some warm ocean air that blew into town last night, promoting a scurry of activity from all the Sitka natives. When I say "warm" ocean air, I mean 45 degrees, basically (in the minds of my roommates at least) making the town a tropical paradise, and of course allowing for outdoor activities. The festivities began after church last night (church is on Saturday night here), when a bunch of us younger folk wandered down to the closest elementary school to play some whiffleball. There I stood, playing first base, on the 17th of January, in Alaska, wearing nothing less than shorts(!) and a tee-shirt(!). If it had not been for the 8 inches of snow still covering the ground, I would have thought that back in Seattle I boarded the wrong plane; you know, the plane that's destination is 400 miles from the equator, not the arctic circle. Anyways, all of this said, the whiffleball game went quite well (as my team won 40-27) and lasted late into the night ( till around midnight). Afterwords, I was lucky enough to fill my belly with Tillamook ice cream and a ham and salami sandwich before bed.

Today the warm air hung around and the sun came out in full force, so, me and the housemates went on a hike to Beaver Lake (yes, I do realize this is ironic, considering Asheville also has one of these). The hike began at Silver Bay (a place that reminds me of pictures I have seen of Austria and Switzerland; beautiful), where the trail wound its way up through thick hardwood forests, complete with 500 year old evergreens and moss that devours everything (similar to Kudzu, just a lot prettier). I kept waiting for a Sasquatch to jump out from behind a tree, but, sadly it never happened. After a couple miles of maneuvering through the woods and up and over ridge lines, the trail dipped down into a valley. Flooding the valley was Beaver Lake, frozen thick with ice, and, in my new formed opinion, the most picturesque lake that exists on God's green earth. The entire valley was beautiful and peaceful, yet wild and dangerous at the same time. I saw the first Bald Eagle of my life flying over the lake; it was quite a sight to behold.

Though there are all these amazing things about Alaska and the Northwoods, I cannot see myself living here forever. It is not home, and in my opinion, Western North Carolina has so much to offer, and without a doubt, it has my heart as well. (I do see myself having a "getaway" cabin in the middle of the woods here though, preferably beside a lake, so I can fly in with the float plane and pilots license I hope to have)

Also! I got to wear snowshoes for the first time the other day! I quickly discovered that they are very helpful when you are on a mountain top thick with 6 feet of snow...