Life

Yesterday brought yet another of the many blessings I've received since leaving everything I knew and heading to Alaska. After finishing up my duties in the bird laboratory, just before I went home, I was told one of the chicks was hatching (there are a number of eggs layed by our sea ducks, called Eiders). I got to watch (and film) for about 40 minutes while this little chick pushed his way out of the egg and opened his eyes to the world for the first time. An amazing and glorious sight. The little guy crawled all around his hatcher box for a while before finally cuddling up in his towel and getting some well-deserved rest. Adventures can happen at any time here...one of the many reasons I'm grateful to have been rescued from my cubicle and given a chance to enjoy such wonders. Thanks be to God.

Brown B'er

A quick post just to provide a few pictures of the only time I saw a brown bear here. As fate would have it, I was without my camera for a rare moment and there he is. Luckily, my mother's camera was available and although it didn't zoom very far, we still got the proof Scott's always demanding.

Pictures

Since I'm so often, and so lovingly, informed of my slothfulness in updating my blog, I thought I'd make a new post for the purpose of displaying a few pictures. At the top here is not Alaska. That is actually the Environmental Science building at Miami University where I'll be confined for the next few years (except on the trips to Kenya, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands, tee hee).
A black bear around 2nd Ave, near the SeaLife Center (a little blurry...sorry)

Anchorage at midnight (also a little blurry)

Near the Exit Glacier area, also around midnight

Sailing in Resurrection Bay

Seward boat harbor

Seward got green

A midnight sunset in Seward

A Sad Day

It has been a while, my patient faithful, since I wrote. While I could cite the winds of change, a busy summer in Seward, or lots of visitors as potential catalysts for my litery absence, I'll digress and shamefully admit I should have stayed more up to date. I half excitedly and half regrettably report that I'll not be reporting from the far north much longer. I have fallen in love with Seward, Alaska and my job at the SeaLife Center and I'm not eager to leave, but Miami University, who has offered me a golden opportunity to get a masters degree in Environmental Science, is unfortunately located in Ohio...a most unexicting state compared to where I am now...and compared to all other states in the union. The silver linings are that MU has the number 4 ranked ice hockey team in the nation and the road trip from here will be great. Not to mention I'm really excited to get my long-awaited science degree. I'll be loading my truck on August 4th and heading southeast but perhaps providence will bring me back here after I'm done. One can only hope. In the meantime, I'll keep on filling my blogs with Alaskan, not Ohian, pictures. One thing is for sure...seeing as how I haven't felt air any warmer than 65 degrees since leaving Tennessee, I'm going to be cranky when I step into the sticky Ohio heat. Cest la vie. Also, if you didn't notice, there are sea lions on the rookery in the picture on the bottom. Cute little guys, eh?

Visitors

I just had a visit from Beth, Scott, Lindsay, and Derek from Chattanooga. We had a chance to tour all over the state, hitting up Homer, Soldotna, Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Denali National Park. I think everyone had a great time and though I'm fearful of stealing any of Scott's thunder, I did include a good picture of a puffin he took while he was here, as well as a picture of the first bear I had seen that we saw on the highway up to Fairbanks. In other news, I have two roommates now that work at the Center for the summer, so my apartment is a little more lively now. My folks will be visiting later this month and for the first time, I'm seeing a green side of Alaska. Most of the swow, except the mountaintops, is gone, and there are budding trees and green grass. And I now am working in the avian department some at the SeaLife Center, just once a week for a few hours, working on a research/breeding project with some northern seaducks called Eiders. It's been a lot of fun and I'm getting to learn a lot about them, which is neat...I used to get to learn a lot about disability insurance. I finished Crime and Punishment as well (Dostoevsky) and recommend it highly. I especially appreciated a very redemptive ending and a strong theme of the Christian idea of salvation through suffering, especially considering the author. That's all I've got for now...until next time.

Busy "Spring"

Like all great writers, I sometimes fall into oblivion with my blog updates. But now I'm back and better than ever. Actually it's been a busy "spring" so far. I use quotations around spring because it has yet to get above 50 degrees. I just had my first visitor come last week, Ryan. He left Thursday and now I've got about 2 weeks to get ready for my next visit of Lindsay, Beth, Derek, and Scott. Plus, the first of my two roommates for the summer will arrive in the middle of their visit. So don't expect more posts anytime soon. During the aforementioned people's visit, we will be going up to Fairbanks and seeing Denali National Park. Can't wait. Ryan and I got to see some whales, moose, sea lions, etc., so hopefully the others will be so lucky. Hope everything is going well in Tennessee and Kansas (and anywhere else people are reading from). Here's something to think on...I sometimes go to my landlord's/neighbor's bible study on Sunday nights and his church (he's a pastor) participates in pentacostal manifestations. I have finally engaged him about this and we've had some brief discussions about it. He has a modern-day prophet come to speak there, thinks there are modern-day apostles, etc. So anyone who wants to venture to throw out some interesting thoughts about this, I'm all eyes. I'm sure we'll discuss it again soon so give me your best thoughts, whether agreeing with him or disagreeing. And one more thing...if any of you have been "fortunate" enough to hear rapper Mims' latest single, entitled, "This Is Why I'm Hot," you might appreciate the below flow chart. If you haven't heard it, the song's lyrics are wonderfully poetic: "This is why I'm hot; This is why I'm hot; I'm hot 'cause I'm fly; You ain't 'cause you not." For any of you who have trouble comprehending Mims' highly advanced logic in these lyrics, the below chart should be of some help. If you like the chart and want to read more where that came from about Mims' number one single, you can check out the commentary at http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0711,harvilla,76021,22.html. I highly advise it.

God Be Praised...

Apparently, people want me to update my blog. I was blessed to have another very Alaskan weekend. Today, there were orcas (killer whales) breeching and blowing in the bay. It was pretty amazing. But nothing like what I saw Friday night, when the Northern Lights were out again. This time, however, they were not faint like before. Every direction I turned, the lights were all around me, dancing in the sky with greens, purples, and reds. Keep in mind that my digital camera, as I've recently discovered, is somewhat of a virtual dinosaur...it is the equivalent of playing music on a cassette tape player instead of an iPod. But even my humble camera was able to take the below pictures, and trust me, these pictures from an outdated camera do it no justice. I truly saw the greatest wonder of God that I've ever seen Friday night (as far as the physical world goes, that is). And as icing on the cake, as I was driving out of the city to get away from the city lights and see them better, I saw a shooting star go right thru the Borealis. It was like a dream. As corrupt and sinful as this world is, and yet still with such wonders, imagine what the eternal kingdom will be like...