Will you permit me to gush?
I just returned from Alaska, where I taught on board Celebrity Mercury. What a gorgeous ship, and what astonishing beauty I found in Alaska.
The passengers were great, sketching and snipping and posing for portraits I cut zippy quick.
Then when we docked, I hiked like a fanatic. If you happened to be in Alaska last week and noticed a woman laying flat on the ground to get the perfect photo of partridge berry or fritillaria alongside a stream bed, I bet I know who it was you spotted!
These salmon berries were not ripe. I would have photographed the ripe ones but I ate them all before pulling the camera out.
Each and every inch was packed with beauty. I left most of the cruise ship passengers behind and simply set out on foot to climb the back of Mount Roberts, alongside Mendenhall Glacier, and up a mountain behind Ketchikan. All breathtakingly gorgeous. I sang as I strode the trails, not wanting to surprise a bear.
On a foothill above Juneau, I spotted this beautiful cabin. I am now mulling over a paint job for the studio and some additional flower boxes and planters! And notice that overhang? Maybe I could get one to keep the rain from dripping down my neck when I enter on those rainy days...
While I didn't meet a bear, I did see plenty of other wildlife. Ravens, whales, porpoise, seals, eagles delighted me, and you will forgive the jerkiness of this picture of a porcupine. I am not certain who was more startled, him or me. Needless to say I was so excited I couldn't manage a decent portrait of this large and charming fellow.
As we headed south, Alaska and the midnight sun of midsummer seemed to be almost bidding us goodbye.
As nice as going away is, coming home is always even better.
