| So, I live in Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is a small, quaint town, tucked into a steep mountainside, cradled by a channel flowing between Juneau and an island called Douglas, which is attached to the mainland of Juneau by bridge. Juneau was established in 1880, during the gold rush, and the mountain above the city is dominated by the derelict and crumbling Juneau Mine. On Douglas Island, after a local revealed to Joe Juneau and Richard Harris that there was gold in what is now named the Silverbow Basin, an underground complex of load mines were built, the largest in the world for their time. They produced more than 3 million troy ounces of gold before closing in 1922. Just a few miles from my home, at the end of a public beach, there is a sinkhole, resultant of the mine collapsing below the tide line. There is far more history in Juneau than can be delved into at depth here. Life in Juneau? Beautiful. Rainy. Quiet. Costly. The way I like it, save that last adjective. Juneau is, in essence, an island. Everything coming into Juneau, or going out, has to be on a plane or a boat. This makes things in Juneau very expensive. And while the rest of America is experiencing extreme fluctuation in the prices for gas and other products, our prices are fairly constant: they stay high. But with all the sacrifices one makes to live in Juneau, it’s the beauty that keeps me here. There is no other place on earth that I have seen that compares to the splendor of Juneau’s lush, natural beauty. The forests are epic. They remind me a bit of Endor, from Return Of The Jedi. Moss grows on the trees, creeping up their trunks and hanging off their branches, and the forest floors are covered in verdant flora. Old, moss-laden logs on the forest floor of trees long past fallen could be laid waste with one wrong swing of a boot, but I would feel like I was defacing the artwork of a goddess or god, who might yet still be watching, as an apparition, sliding behind the moss and the intricate patterns made by the bark of trees. There are magical places in Juneau. Places with a great deal of history. I live in an eagles nest. A condominium tucked at the top of a steep hill on Douglas Island, overlooking the Gastineau Channel, downtown Juneau, and directly across from, and at the same elevation as, the Juneau Mine. The view is breathtaking, and is one that cannot be conveyed with the power of a lens, lest the photographer be a master beyond reckoning. My beautiful wife, Alicia, and I daily watch the skies rise and fall just as the tides, and the ocean change colors, shifting through its many hues of green, blue, grey, and even steel. Many could not stand life in Juneau. For many, Juneau can be claustrophobic. It might even lead to cabin fever for some, as it has in times past. Gruesome murders have taken place in Juneau. The Alaskan Hotel, situated in mid-downtown Juneau, is said to be haunted, as has been mentioned of the Juneau Mine. The constant rain can irrevocably change personalities, and there are many “colorful characters” here to attest to that fact. But for some, it is home, it maintains our sanity, and supports our nervous systems. I love Juneau. I don’t plan on leaving any time soon. |








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People kill each other just by looking at each other, animals and children are raped, football with little ducklins; and they think I'm weird???
~ For my newest WIP see my main page, webcam ~
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People kill each other just by looking at each other, animals and children are raped, football with little ducklins; and they think I'm weird???
~ For my newest WIP see my main page, webcam ~
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Just some words of advice
Maybe you've heard them before but here goes
Just be true to yourself if it lands you in hell, well, at least now you know.
-Alkaline Trio-
~If You Had A Bad Time~
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Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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