I read tonight that the first cruise ship of the season arrived in Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday. It was in a small article on the Juneau Empire website. Below the story, there was a place for reader comments -- ALL of them locals griping about how annoying the tourists are and the ships and the seaplanes and the gift shops and how companies come into town for the season and "take" money out of Juneau. Wah wah, I'm stayin away from downtown all summer long! etc.

Of course there were only twelve comments total. I would have to assume that most residents of the capital understand that since they live in an economy that is essentially fueled by tourism, if those dollars went away, so would half the jobs and businesses. Would they rather be Fairbanks? I mean sure, I bitched about the slowly-shuffling looky-loos on Powell Street in SF, but I still understood that the city needed these people.

I love Juneau and can't wait to go give them some more of my money in the near future.

IN OTHER NEWS, we did a bunch of yardworky stuff today. I scattered a bunch of wildflower seeds in a little plot by the deck, planted my rosemary bush in the ground, and pulled a great many weeds. Our lawn is completely invaded by moss and I don't know if we should kill it or leave it. I'm leaning toward leave it, unless it destroys the grass. The grass isn't looking too happy. But then Brian cut it way too short last weekend.

Tomorrow we're going to Target to find deck furniture of some sort.

Tags: juneau

1. Upon arrival at the airport, we were confronted immediately with a billboard featuring a photo of a pregnant woman in a rocking chair and the following caption: "If you're pregnant, it's a baby. Choose life." At first I was, you know, horrified, then I realized (again!) how totally perfect this is for my book.

2. The homeless shelter/soup kitchen downtown is called "The Glory Hole." No idea what that's all about. But I giggled like a 9-year-old.

Tags: book, juneau

We are back home. I loved Juneau, I loved our trip.

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The ravens run the town. We watched one pulling the secured lid off a trash can in front of the bakery right before we went to the airport this morning.

Tags: birds, juneau

We went on a hike this afternoon. It was lovely, and I even stepped in a little bit of snow. On the way back, as we walked across an old wooden bridge toward Basin Road, Brian spotted something on the other side of the valley, perhaps a mile away. It was a brown bear walking on the snow with two cubs. She was very far away, so far that the photo I took may be indistinct, but definitely a bear, at a nice safe distance.

And now we are going out for Mexican food with a couple of locals.

Tags: bears, juneau

Pictured in my icon: the side of the building where I now sit and type.

I am in Juneau. Now I can write a book about it.

Just a few observations quickly:

The crows own this town. They are incredibly large, and they swoop over the town in pairs, calling to each other. In fact I am convinced that I am seeing and hearing both crows and ravens. Some of them have flat head feathers and say "caaawwww." Others have spiky head feathers and emit a higher pitched cry. All are GIANT. Chicken-sized.

We stood on the sidewalk and peered up at a snowy mountainside just a few blocks away, rising straight up, hundreds of feet into the sky.

Douglas Island is much larger than I thought it would be.

Our hotel is really cute and homey. My wireless could drop at any time. Breakfast is free in the bakery next door. They show movies every night in a mini-theater. There's a basket in the hall full of toiletries and things in case you forgot. Guess who didn't bring lens solution? Me. Luckily I can use the bottle in the hall.

It is beautiful here. But odd. Isolated. Already saw a guy in rubber fishing boots. Weatherbeaten buildings. Clean air and cold wind. Most people dress as though they could go camping at any moment.

I found a grocery store in a building that used to be a church. The produce was as I expected: expensive and stunted. The avocados are lime-sized, the limes are $3/pound.

Finally: I have not seen a single pigeon. I think they were run out of town by the crows.

Tags: book, juneau

52°

Supposed to rain for the next eight days and clear up by the 30th but of course who knows.

I don't care if it rains while we are there, in fact I kinda hope it does.

Tags: book, juneau, webcam