Date: May 30Mileage: 43.4
May Mileage: 472.1
Temperature upon departure: 58
... so I'm posting yet another Utah shot, with the Twin Peaks dominating the Wasatch Skyline. I travel so light now that the point-n-click regrettably must be left behind so I can make room in my seatpost bag for lesser things ... spare tube, patch kit, tire levers. These days, even the Power Bars stay home. To tell you the truth, I kinda miss wearing a winter coat.
While dodging the endless parade of RVs and the kite-wielding, roller-blading traffic around town, I thought there are a lot of reasons why I miss winter altogether. The white silence. The solitude. The sunsets. Of course, there's a rich beauty in all of this drenching green and a pleasant camaraderie in the sudden surge of energy - not to mention the fact that it's warm, and that should make any breathing human being happy. But as I pass the bleached tent city now sprawled across a mile of beach, foggy with campfire smoke and commotion, there's a part of me that feels strangely out of place. Strange because I'm a former hot-climate desert dweller and tourist from the 'burbs. But out of place because the Alaskan in me was baptized by lonliness and winter.
A few days ago, I had the interesting experience of watching twilight turn to dawn without any transition into night. I kept waiting for stars to come out as the clock clicked away the wee hours. But after a while, I realized that it was no longer becoming darker - it was becoming lighter. Within a few minutes of that observation, the orange glow of sunrise crept over the north-eastern horizon.
And as I marveled to myself about the earth's skewed axis and the way it creates an amazing juxtaposition of time and place, a larger voice in my head told me I really need to start getting more sleep.
you were over winter like 3 posts ago weren't you? embrace the summer girl.
ReplyDeleteTransitions of most types are unsettling...but I'll bet if you play harder you'll sleep better. Shortly you'll be mezmerized by the magic of an Alaskan summer.
ReplyDeleteSummer in Alaska is so wonderful. Here in Fairbanks everyone is outside, and it's sunny and warm and green and blue. If only we didn't have to share it with tourists! ;) We've got lots of RV's here, too, but Fairbanks is big enough to absorb the influx better.
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