A few highlights.
Alaska.
Need I say more?
It was incredibly beautiful – mountains and ocean in the same place.
Bald eagles, humpback whales, orcas, sea lions.
Glaciers, glacier lakes, bright blue ice chunks.
Sunsets.
Standing on the deck in the evening when everyone else on the ship was more inclined to indoor activities. It was quiet, apart from the wind blowing my hair and the sound of the water trailing the boat. Watching the clouds and the sun going down. Near silence. And a bit of a chill in the air. It was amazing.
Ziplining through the rainforest (yes, Alaska has the 2nd largest rainforest in the world. Who knew?)
Whale watching. Wow. God and I were having a chat during most of this. I have loved whales since I was young. In fact, in my grade 9 yearbook write up, one of my future goals was to have a killer whale in my backyard. (I try to be more of a realist these days…). We saw an incredible number of humpbacks. Then we saw sea lions fighting for position on a coast guard buoy out in the water. So I’m having this chat with God, expressing thanks at seeing all these whales so close up, and letting him know that I’ve come to terms with not seeing any orcas, because in reality it’s not that likely – even if they were my favourite. And it was like God responded to me in one of those “desires of your heart” kinds of moments, because our boat received a radio call about a pod of orcas up ahead. And there they were, flying along through the water. Amazing. And very real. And I loved it.
And then there was kayaking in the glacier lake – Lake Chilakoot. Again, beautiful.
And then there was a good weekend at a friend’s cabin. This is me shortly before I went into the water Superman style following something schmucking my face and me reefing on my shoulder. It resulted in me having a very low-key rest of the weekend, and a rather slow and relaxed week. Two torn tendons will do that to a person. But I’m recovering. And it’s forcing me to slow down a bit.
I guess I could also include a couple of good days with friends. Today finished off with a night at the Bombers’ game. Beautiful weather. Good game – intense to the very end - with a victory for us, and a good night hanging out with a good friend.
Sigh.
Summer goodness continues.
