I've been in Alaska for seventeen days time for a first analysis, the kind that often is chuckled over months and years down the line for it's naivety and ignorance.

The first impression of this place is the size. Glacier showed me a rugged landscape of snowcapped peaks and massive valleys. I never thought I would find a place to rival the wildness of that place but was proven wrong before I ever set foot in Alaska. Looking out of the window of the airplane as it flew over north western canada and alaska was humbling, here was size for sizes sake. Miles and miles of peaks as far as my elevated eye could see stretched out in an inhospitable grace. Here was no park, no scenic highways, no visitor centers or manicured campgrounds but simply mountains and valleys that could care less if they ever felt a hikers step. Glacier and Alaska, similar specimens, one caged and one wild.

Once I settled down in Seward my surroundings shrunk to a manageable size and I could begin looking deeper. I have started to watch and listen as the local alaskans go about their daily business. Living with the mayor has allowed me to taste some of the political cuisine and I learn more every night as we talk over a glass of wine. One thing i had to get a grasp of is the simple fact that alaska as a state is not yet fifty years old. There are many old timers who lived in the alaska territory. Already I am learning how much I cannot understand. Tales of clashes on the sea as fishermen vie for the best fishing areas, it was not long ago that setting ones nets up in front of another boats nets was an offense that may warrant a quick splash of automatic gunfire across the offending boats bow. Another interesting note is that alaska has roughly 600 thousand people comprable to north dakota yet is three times the size of texas. Also, the alaskan public fund set up by the state government as a surplus for the people using oil revenues and the profits from other resources harvested in the state runs in the billions of dollars, enough to pay it's residents upwards of 2000 dollars a year on the interest and simultaneously provide a financial backing to the states budget. Can you imagine having a billion dollar surplus?

more more and more i will stop now and continue my observations at a later date. talk to you all later hope you're having a good summer.