49th Star . . .

Fifty years can seem like a long time to some . . .

While for others it might seem like only yesterday.

Alaska is in the middle of our statehood celebrations with events and reenactments all over. Tonight there is a joint military family appreciation/50 years of statehood concert featuring Wynona Judd out at Elmendorf Air Force Base that is a free concert with a live broadcast on KTUU Channel 2. Towards the end Wynona brought out her mama, Naomi to sing a few songs and also had several families come onstage for a teleconference with their family members who are combat stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tonight’s concert will finish off with the lighting of a bonfire to reenact the ‘statehood bonfire’ fifty years ago on the park strip downtown.

Tomorrow starts the Arctic Thunder Air Show with many static exhibits and live flight demonstrations by both military and civilian pilots as well as parachute drops by our own Alaskan Arctic Warriors based at Fort Richardson.

Being a history buff has been fun reading old newspaper articles or seeing the pictures from those times. I come away with the realization of just how hard it was in those early days of exploring this vast state. Times were hard . . . like now . . . but in a different way. Food and warmth were in short supply and the people who came here learned much from the native culture.

As we embrace for a weekend of celebration and all of the activities around Anchorage we can only hope for clear skies and warm temperatures.

Happy Birthday Alaska . . . your star is shining brightly.

Ice

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morrison Springs - Ponce de Leon, Florida

Image
Morrison Springs Ponce de Leon, Florida County road 181 Morrison Springs was one of our favorite dive spots on many of our Florida trips but it also had the most danger to it.  One of Northwest Florida’s best-kept secrets was known to more Georgia and Alabama folks than Floridians.  And they weren’t talking.  It had to do with the jewel of a Panhandle spring, a turquoise pool surrounded by stately cypress trees whose aerial roots stand taller than a man. Below the surface, clear, 68-degree water wells up from a spring cave source over 90 feet deep. Morrison Springs is just far enough off the beaten path in this sunny pine and cypress country to be special for any diver lucky enough to find and dive the site. The shallow pool reflects the overhead blue sky and if the water is clear and the bottom clean of silt, it resembles a giant sapphire.  Unlike some springs with a deep, black hole source, this one takes visitors gradually into its shallows from a golden-sand beach. Div
Read more

Are Showing Your Nipples Appropriate Work Attire?

Image
Let me first say that personally, I have no problem with it at all. This has been kind of a weird week here in the north land with the first of many winter snowfalls’s to come and the landscape once again beautifully covered in the white stuff. It looks like the kids will have to put their Halloween costume on over a snowsuit again this year as the cold snowy stuff is here again. That is not what I wanted to write about tonight but was necessary to set up what I did want to write about. “Frosty nipples” are quite common here during most of the year and when things cool down on the cusp of winter probably more so. Work attire with tight shirts or low cut blouses that ‘make a statement’ during colder weather could be taken several ways by co-workers or visitors to your place of business. While you may not always be taken seriously by others in the office and some may have trouble looking you in the face, I say it's a freedom of rights issue. If you want to show o
Read more

Biscuits and Whores

Image
Some of the best things about life I learned from Lonesome Dove. Great movie, excellent characters, and tells a story about how to live life. Augustus McCrae “It ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living.   I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.” I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less. “Yesterday’s gone and we can’t get it back.” “I'm sure partial to the evening,' Augustus said. 'The evening and the morning.   If we just didn't have to have the rest of the dern day I'd be a lot happier.” Hat Creek Cattle Company Well we don't rent pigs and I figure it's better to say it right out front because a man that does like to rent pigs is . . . he's hard to stop. Biscuits “I never knew you to get excited about anything except biscuits maybe . . . and whores!”    Captain Woodrow Call to Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove. Whores L
Read more