I have hit another snag in my desire to write regularly on this blog. It’s not that I have nothing to write about, because there are an unlimited number of topics. It’s a matter of doing it. So, I’m going for it again.
I did have an excuse for a few weeks last month, I was on vacation and was actually out of internet contact. I know that is a scary thought to some. It was an opportunity to see some great new scenery. I think I’ll talk about that for my first time back.
My wife and I were privileged to go to Alaska. We cruised the inside passage. I have to admit that I have not been an expert on the geography of Alaska. I learned that the inside passage is the long thin arm of Alaska that comes far south along the Pacific Ocean along the western border of Canada. It is an amazing collection of water passages and mountains. We stopped in some of the towns along the way to get a taste of the tourist trap part of the state. Actually, the tourist areas were much friendlier than some tourist areas I have been in. We also had opportunity to see some great scenery while we were on land.
I guess I have to say the scenery of the state was what I was most looking forward to seeing, and it was awesome. Countless miles and miles of water, countless water falls as the winter snow melted off the mountains, countless hills and trees and more. Unfortunately, we were there during a cloudy and rainy time. If we had gone the week before the weather was perfect. We did have a few sunny days, and they gave us the beautiful picture of God’s creation in all its splendor. One night we chased the sun set. It was going down behind a mountain. As the ship moved and the sun continued to go down, it showed up again several times by the mountain. That night I was out on the upper deck of the ship taking pictures till after 10 PM. God has an amazing paint brush with vibrant colors with vibrant colors on his pallette. I got some great pictures.
One very interesting sight was a large barge we passed. There was a tug boat towing this barge. That’s not all that unusual. The uniqueness to me was what was on the barge. It had cement trucks, large construction equipment, many shipping crates the size of a semi truck, and on top of the shipping crates were several pick up trucks lashed on. Water is the way that the people who live there get their supplies. We were un Juneau, and the ONLY two ways there are air or water. If you live in Juneau, you only have about thirty five miles of highway to drive on.
In the midst of that extreme vastness of the area, out in the middle of nowhere, we would see birds flying and sea lions jumping or sunning themselves. It reminds me of the vastness of God and His promise to keep track of all His creation. The Bible says that not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it. A few times it seemed that we were far from any kind of civilization, and then we would pass a boat with someone fishing.
I know that we only saw a very small slice of Alaska. We have an invitation to go back to Juneau for some fishing. I would love that. I would also love to see more of the scenery. As I have had the privilege of traveling in a few different parts of the world, I have seen over and over the endless creativity and creation of God. He is not like the contractors who put up hundreds of houses in a development and give you the choice of any color house you want as long as it is tan. Just on this one trip, we saw more shades of green and blue that you can imagine. And then there are all the other colors on the spectrum that God created. I hope to see more of them.
