Writing Photographs #2 Traditional Landscape

Katy's Traditional Landscape entry for the #dogwood52 photo challenge.

I thought it would be clever of me to write a landscape from a contrasting season to her Antelope Island, Utah winter, but sometimes I just go with obvious over clever.

When I lived in Alaska and traveled the state for business, my first winter there I made a trip to Valdez, Alaska.  This almost-300 square foot city (of which 55 square feet are water) lies at the head of a deep fjord in the Prince William Sound. Some people travel to Valdez by ferry across from Homer or Seward, but I drove.  I was already driving from Anchorage north to Glennallen and Copper Center via the Alaska Highway.  I was reaching out, introducing and delivering low vision services in surrounding village and rural locations.  In a place called Kenny Lake lived a woman who worked as an Alzheimer's care consultant, who helped guide me to places of most need.  Well, not really just most need, but any need, as we often took very long drives just to visit one person.

All of my time in Alaska was like living a dream, and traveling with this wonderfully joyful woman made me laugh til the tears rolled.  Every trip!  So, it's quite fortunate that she was my traveling companion through the heavily glaciated Chugach Mountains during the first snow of the year wherein we broke all snow records in the whole state of Alaska, had a flat just outside of town with sketchy service on our flip phones, got snowed in for an extra day and I fell on the ice getting groceries.

I thought I was walking on snow, but there was ice under there.  My feet shot forward and up, right out from under me.  I landed on my seat first, then the back of my head, which bounced me back up into a sitting postion.  My first thought was that I was surely going to have a headache and be sore in a myriad of other places tomorrow.  But, it never happened. I didn't even hurt much at all after about 10 minutes.

We had much assistance and support from the locals, who, like people in most small towns I've been in, were so friendly and not bothered by bothersome circumstances.

I was so happy to be snowed in.  That was one of the perks, actually, of my job.  In addition to traveling, I could also be at the mercy of Mother Nature who allowed me extra time to see and do things I had never experienced before.  Our hotel was right on the harbor, and this was the first time I had ever seen snowfall in a port city.  It was alluring and magical.

I think I could be happy living in Valdez.  For more than just the landscape there.