Remembering

Last Monday, we took a walk. (We're not very patriotic.)

I often forget that I live in the most beautiful place my eyes have ever seen. I haven't been everywhere, but I have seen many places, and this is the most gorgeous place in the world that I have experienced. In the monotony of life it can be so easy to forget that there is beauty. Little things get in the way, and bigger things sometimes get overlooked.

So, we took a walk.

The trail is called 'Homestead' and it is managed by a land trust in the area. In the winter, it is trails for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. In the summer it is for walking. So walk we did.

We found lots of plants that we had not encountered before. This is a wild geranium.
This is the most striking wildflower I have seen in Alaska. It is called the chocolate lily. It stinks like an outhouse (really) but it is gorgeous.
Butterfly on a wild geranium. I am quite proud of my slow-but-steady photography improvements.
These are forget-me-not's, Alaska's state flower. They are itty-bitty.
This is fiddlehead fern. Kennan loves it.
And this is completely unphotoshopped. Honest. Kennan practically laid on the road to get this shot. That is a glacier in front of you. And an ice field. In real life.
Sometimes, it is important to stop. To walk away from the house, away from responsibility, and remember. Remember that even though I look around and think "How the hell did I end up in Alaska?" that there is beauty in life. That I am blessed to live here. That things in our lives are looking up. That I haven't used a credit card in over a month. That it is salmon season this weekend and there is a free way to fill our freezer with healthiness. That I found organic strawberries on sale. That my job really isn't so bad, just boring and mindless. That Kennan loves his job. That we both love the people he works with.

The story of our lives is not always beautiful in the moment, but when I take a step back and I look at the wider quilt, I see lots of beautiful pieces that I forgot.

Take a walk. Look around. Remember.