The whales are leaving Glacier Bay, and I am sad. All wildlife, plants, and flowers are showing that the summer has ended. The berries have ripened and passed. Wildflower displays on the beaches are fading from blues and reds to an autumn brown. Humpback whales are seldom seen now, and with the wildlife, friends that converged in Glacier Bay for the summer are now scattering across the globe.
Today is my first day back at work and I am sad. My fellow stewards left for the summer and I hold down the boat tours alone. My Los Angeles friends visited and left yesterday, reminding me of the city and the life I left behind.
The season in Glacier bay is ending and I am sad. Two more weeks and the remaining employees will scatter like the migrating wildlife. I will miss this place and the new friends I made this summer, just as I miss the world I left before Glacier Bay.
Where to next? Shenandoah National Park? New Hampshire? Overseas? Back to Los Angeles? Every option subjects me to a predefined lifestyle, but which is most suited for this moment in my life? Which serves my best interest? After a summer where I sacrificed familiarity, I wonder if I have the strength to do it again.
It's the end of August and the humpback whales are leaving. The season is ending and like everything else, it is time for me to scatter, and I am sad.
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Shenandoah National Park will give you the chance to write even more cool blogs!
ReplyDeleteKris
Keep up the adventures! that's who you are!
ReplyDeleteYou said;
ReplyDeleteAfter a summer where I sacrificed familiarity, I wonder if I have the strength to do it again.
But I remind of this:
Alaska challenged my every ability. I escaped hypothermia. I navigated the fog. I battled storms. My determination and skills delivered me to the lodge in four days. Just as my life seemed impossible, I left the lodge and embarked on this trip and discovered my determination and undying strength. I need not be fearful of my future. I do not know what will unfold, but I know that I will survive. All I need is myself, and that is the lesson Alaska taught me.
You can do anything your heart and mind sets out to do; that's always been clear and no matter where it is, if you put that thought first and keep it there, you can make it.