OY! What a commute!

As I mentioned before, I am staying out of town this summer.

I'm in the green, rolling hills north of Fairbanks, 

the ones where gold was first discovered in this area.

I have a 13 mile commute to the hospital each morning.

Could be stressful and tiring, I know. 

One thing I really, really, REALLY dislike in life is traffic.

REALLY.  HATE.  TRAFFIC.

See the kind of traffic I have to deal with each morning:

I can TOTALLY handle this.  Even enjoy it.

As I begin to coast down from the higher elevation, I can see pretty Fairbanks below.

She sits in a large, expansive valley, almost a bowl.

I can pick out the buildings that make up the college and even 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital where I work.

Surrounding the city are the hills and, further beyond,

three great mountain ranges.

                       

Just a few miles into my trip, the jagged, snowy peaks of the

Alaska Range peek over the tall trees. 

This vista always makes me smile.

And then the pride of the Alaska Range grandly appears.

Mt. McKinley, or Denali-"The Great One", the tallest peak in all

of North America, greets me.

Not every day as the clouds sometimes fill the horizon.

But on the days this massive mountain glows in the sunlight,

I am buoyed upward by its silent, powerful presence.

It simply does my heart good to whisper,

"Good morning to you, too."

So you see, not only is there NO stress in this commute,

it blesses and centers me and I begin my workday with a song in my heart.

My friends, I wish I had a better camera than my basic little Canon and I realize

this picture is rather poor quality.  
But, please look beyond the blurriness and graininess

and join me in recognizing greatness when you see it. 

Here are two pictures I took of the same mountain a couple of years ago.

Kathleen and I were on an adventure to go into Denali National Park 

and were thrilled to see all of this mountain as it often has its summit

sheathed in clouds.

That was a very good day. 

So is every day I have to live and work here.

And I never mind the commute!