The Beauty of Nature

  Of course there's beauty in nature.  I don't think that anyone could deny that fact, especially anyone who's ever been to Southeast Alaska.  From the first day we arrived in Alaska both Zac and I were in awe of the beauty of our natural surroundings.  It's breathtaking.  However, some days the beauty of nature is more obvious than others.  This morning I was absolutely amazed by my surroundings.  The morning was calm and clear.  It seemed lighter than most mornings when the boys and I left the house to walk to school.  Although it was a little earlier than usual even so I could have been imagining that it was lighter than usual.  Or perhaps I was more aware this morning for some unknown reason.  The boys and I had a lot on our minds actually and were already discussing the coming events for the day as they had a Battle of the Books competition first thing in the morning.  Yet, for whatever reason, as I stepped from the ramp to our house to the main boardwalk, I was caught by the beauty of the backdrop of scenery in front of me.  The snow- capped mountain in the far background was slightly shaded by a light morning haze and from where I was standing the trees framed it to the right and left.  

    I glanced towards the house as I was remarking to the boys that it was a beautiful morning.  Xavier and Zeke both started to tell me that there was a bald eagle in the tree by our house, just as I myself was noticing him as well.  A single tree sits to the south side of our house with it's branches reaching up and over our rooftop.  All of the leaves have long ago fallen and there perched on a barren branch, just left of the center of our rooftop, was a bald eagle.  He was hardly noticeable at all.  The branches of the tree made the eagle fairly inconspicuous, due especially to the gray and brown hues of the bark and the houses rooftop which formed a monochromatic color scheme with the feathers on the body of the great bird.  Just the bright white head of our country's national bird stood apart from the backdrop in which it sat.  The way in which the eagle was perched he gave a protective appearance, as if watching over something of great value.  He did not move the entire time that we watched him.  He simply stared forward toward the picturesque mountain view in the north.  As the boys and I watched this amazing creature I couldn't help but think how aptly this scene captured the meaning of the word regal and represented true majestic beauty.

    More astounding yet, so much so that I had to wonder at first if it was a figment of my imagination (which it wasn't), was what awaited us when we began up the ramp leading to the school.  In front of us, high above the school, soared a bald eagle.  Whether it was the same eagle or a different one I do not know.  However, the ease and simplicity with which he glided effortlessly through the air took my breath away yet again.  Photographs of bald eagles soaring high above the treetops are always so beautiful, yet sometimes look fake, due to the calm and serenity with which the bird glides with it's outstretched wings.  To see one of these great birds soaring however, you realize why the pictures always portray peacefulness and ease.  It is because this is what you see when you view it in nature as well.  There are no photography tricks that need to be done to such portrayals, it is the reality of the animal.

    

New Year's Resolution

In recent years I have not really made any New Year’s Resolutions, however I do reflect upon things within my life that I may want to change or improve.  I do set out things for myself that I think I need to work on, but I don’t know if it really constitutes a “resolution” or not.  I just think that this seems to be an obvious time for reflection, but the things which I think I need to work on or be more proactive about are things that I should always be doing or have thought about doing just hadn’t gotten around to or the like.  So, in affect this is similar to a resolution – I just don’t necessarily title it as such.

            Part of my personal reflection for this year came from a discussion with a friend regarding reading the Bible.  I have tried in the past to read the Bible.  I have tried different approaches to this.  I started once with the New Testament and didn’t even get through an entire Book.  I’ve started with the Old Testament at one time and I think that I made it all the way through Genesis, or at least close.  I’ve thought about skipping around and tried reading through Psalms. I’ve always ended up getting overwhelmed, became uninterested, gotten wrapped up in a daily hectic life, or whatnot. There has always been some reason to stop. 

I’ve had multiple discussions with a friend that had made it her goal last year to read the entire Bible in one year.  She researched it online and found a plan that she liked for reading through the Bible in the course of a year. She accomplished her goal and finished reading the Bible (chronologically) in a year’s time.  There are multiple sites online devoted to this.  You can choose the version of the Bible that you want to use, you can choose whether you want to read from beginning to end, chronological order, etc…  These plans break up the Bible into sections that are not terribly overwhelming to read on a daily basis, which to me should be helpful in making it through.

So, I have chosen to try reading the Bible in a year.  I chose a plan using the version I am used to and receive daily emails with the selection as well as being able to go onto the site itself to get the reading (or of course in a Bible). I do not tend to like reading text online.  However, along with reading online or via email I also have the option to print the selection.  I am hoping that this will work out for me, especially considering the fact that there will likely be times that I am away from home, potentially for a week at a time or longer, but I should have my laptop with me whenever I am gone somewhere and it is usually fairly easy to get internet access for long enough to at least load the selection and put it into a word document to read from.  So, we’ll see how it goes.  I started a day late because I didn’t sign up for the email notifications, etc… until about 8 p.m. (Alaskan time) on January 1, 2010.  This meant that I the “program” which is set up on a calendar on the site with my login info began from January 2, 2010.  Unfortunately, I’m already a bit behind.  I did the reading for January 2 on time and then didn’t do the reading for the 3^rd until today (January 4).  However, I have saved what I need to read so that I can get to it and double up on one day (hopefully tomorrow).  At this point I’ve also been taking my time going through and I’m even keeping a little journal and writing notations to myself along the way.  I’m not so concerned if I don’t get it done in exactly a year, but if I can keep focus and work through it in sections and not fall too far off the schedule.  I’m hoping this might be helpful to me also for the fact that I do not have a church available that I can attend on a regular basis here.  I have attended a Lutheran Church in Sitka and will probably attend there again if I’m in town on a Sunday, but normally I’m on my own.  So, I guess I’ll see how this goes!

A New Year

   So, it's now officially a new year - January 1, 2010.  The start of the new year brings upon me a time of reflection, as it does for many people.  It seems hard to believe that it's been a full decade since the start of the new millennium.  Ten years ago when everyone was paranoid about what the year 2000 would bring, whether the world's computer systems would crash, some people going to extremes of stashing cash in mattresses, stocking pantries, and filling up gallons of water "just in case."  It's also been a decade since I did my student teaching at Genesee High School and graduated from the University of Michigan- Flint, which means it's been 14 years since graduating high school.  It just seems strange to think of it that way.  It's also been 10 years since Zac and I met and began dating, and now here we are with two boys who are six and seven years of age.  It's interesting to look back and reflect on the question, "Where will you be 10 years from now?"  In 2000, ten years ago, I never would have answered that question by thinking that I would be married to Zac, the boys, living and teaching in Alaska in a small community, etc...  Actually, a year ago I never would have imagined living and working in Alaska, let alone in such a small community and area.  I actually had never even imagined that a place such as Port Alexander, AK even existed now a days.  A city like Port Alexander is definitely not the norm.  There are so many things that don't exist here: no cars, no city power, no cell phone service, only way in or out by plane or boat, no grocery store...  But, the things that we do have here you can't find just anywhere: a close knit community where everyone helps each other, simplicity while still having all of the necessities, children growing up without worrying about strangers or other external dangers, a school with a staff to student ratio of 3:1, the beauty of nature that is beyond what I knew existed, kids who care about their community and are kind, polite, and helpful at all times, a place in which all members of the community (even those without children) support education and the school in every way they can, etc...  I'm not sure that it's where I want my children to grow up for there entire lives, we have yet to see what will happen... but, it's so nice to have a simplicity and ease of life that we never knew before and family time is never an issue here.  I miss my family and friends desperately at times though and it's so hard to be here and feel like I'm hurting my family and friends at home in Michigan by not being there.  But, I had to make some decisions based on what was good for my children and my immediate family.  Most times I think I made the right decision, but I very much take other peoples feelings to heart and it breaks every time I think about how much I feel I am hurting some by being here.