Anchorage. That's where I'm at currently. it has several bonuses. The most obvious one is that it is a mountain city sitting at the sea. That is there are trees and animals that you would normally see at 9,000 feet in New Mexico, but at sea level--Tundra is at an unbelieveable 2,500 ft (ish). The sun rarely sets save for about 4 hours in the summer, so people don't know what they're missing when they go to the big apple thinking that NYC never sleeps. Perhaps that city is full of walkng zombies feeding on vodka, but this city, in the summer time, takes a thoughtful wink at night and is up bright and early the next day choosing wisely, like polar bears, to hibernate during the winter. It's a city that breaks all the rules.
My sister-in-law dropped me off in the heart of its down-town district. How could anybody be bored in this forest of coffee shops, pubs, art, the ocean, and trains humming along, and people doing things (whatever they do). I got to talk to some of those interesting alaskans. One was an artist at a local gallery who showed me his interesting discovery of an angel snowflake phenomena that happens on his very own peice of land. My first step into the Alaskan wonderland was beggining as this fantasia of a discovery opened my eyes again to the creativity of my maker. (That's what the ice angels are like--the faeries in fantasia the disney animated classic). They're called Ice angels or Ice puppies.
Later that day I ran long and hard--well for me. Sea level was an easier place to run. And the feeling was as if I was running high at a 8,000 level altitude. It was like I was cheating nature I was running so fast, my lungs not heaving as much. Another girl runner winked at me as I heaved past with my dark skin and the locks of my hair tied back. Maybe I like this city.
My sister-in-law dropped me off in the heart of its down-town district. How could anybody be bored in this forest of coffee shops, pubs, art, the ocean, and trains humming along, and people doing things (whatever they do). I got to talk to some of those interesting alaskans. One was an artist at a local gallery who showed me his interesting discovery of an angel snowflake phenomena that happens on his very own peice of land. My first step into the Alaskan wonderland was beggining as this fantasia of a discovery opened my eyes again to the creativity of my maker. (That's what the ice angels are like--the faeries in fantasia the disney animated classic). They're called Ice angels or Ice puppies.
Later that day I ran long and hard--well for me. Sea level was an easier place to run. And the feeling was as if I was running high at a 8,000 level altitude. It was like I was cheating nature I was running so fast, my lungs not heaving as much. Another girl runner winked at me as I heaved past with my dark skin and the locks of my hair tied back. Maybe I like this city.
Above: me running long and hard on the beach of Anchorage.
I do. A lot. The girl part was meant to be funny, but not the best part of my day. I sat and meditated on the beach though the tide seemed miles away. The locals warn you of mud flats which cause you to die if you sink in them properly and without help. I imagined myself stuck in mud waiving my hands wildly for help as everyone in Anchorage ran and walked by without a care in the world taking in their beautiful state and city much like their 2,000 dollar-a-year payment just for living here.
But no seriously, I sat on a log and just thought. Just meditated. I thuoght so much about what Jesus said "I make all things new." The book I'm reading now Faith on Edge quotes C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity where he talks about God taking people and remodeling them like a house. At first it seems obvious the things that need trimming and fixing. But later on things are torn down and what seems brutal actualy ends up being better than you imagined. Instead of a house, God is making himself a palace to live in. Lewis' words not mine.
Like this city, which was so new to me, a true winter wonderland that breaks all the rules. A paradise on earth. Though as beautiful as it is on its own. God's palace is unimaginably greater. I'm not gonna settle for mediocre.
But no seriously, I sat on a log and just thought. Just meditated. I thuoght so much about what Jesus said "I make all things new." The book I'm reading now Faith on Edge quotes C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity where he talks about God taking people and remodeling them like a house. At first it seems obvious the things that need trimming and fixing. But later on things are torn down and what seems brutal actualy ends up being better than you imagined. Instead of a house, God is making himself a palace to live in. Lewis' words not mine.
Like this city, which was so new to me, a true winter wonderland that breaks all the rules. A paradise on earth. Though as beautiful as it is on its own. God's palace is unimaginably greater. I'm not gonna settle for mediocre.
