Who owns the Sunset?

Anchorage Alaska was breathtaking this evening, in more ways than one!

The temp outside was 6˚F but felt way colder, so that's what I meant by breathtaking . . . walking to my rig after work the cold air stung my throat. Freezing cold, but beautiful as I started my drive home I made my way on to the circular ramp that leads from Dimond Blvd. to the Seward Highway. It climbs up and comes over the bridge giving you a great view of the mountains to the east, the panorama view of the southern mountains along Turnagain Arm and the horizon to the west and north of Cook Inlet and Sleeping Lady (mountain across the Inlet) as you come around to see the buildings of Downtown Anchorage in the distance.

The sky behind the mountains to the east looked almost black as night had fallen and the darkness was settling in nicely for a clear cold Alaskan night.

The last rays of sun hit the mountaintops turning into a peachy pink color. The actual sun was already below my visible horizon as I made the turn seeing the last fast fading glimpses of light to my west. The colors clinging to the few remaining clouds were past their height in color by the time I saw them but were spectacular none the less.

I wanted to capture the scene with my camera, but it would be over before I could get it out of the case . . . maybe it's just as well as a mental snapshot for me to recall in those times when you want to remember something nice and special. Who knows but it sure would have been nice to share it with someone . . . but as I write this I guess I was . . . as those of us making our way through life here in the cold of an Anchorage sunset experienced it in our own way . . . me in my rig going home . . . others maybe going to the mall or someplace else.

Moments like this remind me why I call Anchorage and Alaska home.

Our former Alaskan Governor Walter Hickel once spoke of 'Man with Nature' vs. 'Man use of Nature':

"The whole question of the environment is not how to isolate man from nature, but how to make him compatible with nature." . . . "Environment needs touch the whole of living of life. What is environment? It is not just rolling beaches and the rolling prairies. It is the area in which you live . . . The natural resources man needs to exist are more abundant in the West than they have been in the East, and always will be. But there's also the spiritual inspiration that will always be here . . . What we have to be sure of is that we do not develop the West for artificial reasons. And then the West can help the East become a real society, not just a plastic society . . . Ask yourself: What is the value of a sunset? Or the beauty of a mountain? Or the lonely stretch of a beach? Or just the chance to renew one's spirits? Who owns our great rivers? Who owns all the waters that run down the mountains to the seas? Who owns the sunset? . . . "

On this last day of January I guess I did for a few precious moments and I thank God everyday for the opportunity to experience his glorious work.

Ice

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