Looking for Alaska
No I didn't really have to look for Alaska, because it was always there, a huge tundra sharing elbow space with Canada and trading wintry winds with it each season, but I did have to wait to get there, and wait a long time I did.
The story goes that my lola had been trying to get me to go with her to Alaska on a cruise ever since I was in nursery school. Nursery school! I'd been 3 years old then. 20 years later, we fulfilled that particular wish of hers, only we used a plane, not a ship, and I already have a college degree, a job and pretty much my own life.
The wait was well worth it.
Alaska has got to be my favorite state now. Most seriously.
Even with its freeze-your-nose-off temperatures and the fact that the sun cheekily stays in the sky until 1 in the early morning, it has got to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Quiet, it is, but desolate it's not. It is totally stunning.
There's just something about water that lies so still it looks like glass.
And there is just something about seeing whales' tails emerging from the deep and raised towards the sky, otters swimming in a sea of ice, and seeing these babies with your own eyes.
It just makes you want to burst out in song and dance to "It's a Wonderful World".
Thank you, Alaska. 20 years of waiting for 4 days of bliss? I'd do it all over again if I could.