Time Travel Exists in Alaska

Herons and gulls in Juneau

Two weeks already? It feels like I got back to Juneau just yesterday. On top of that, it doesn't really feel like anything has changed here at all since I left a year and a half ago. The same folks are here, they are all still great people, I know how to get everywhere, the bus schedule is still the same. The thrift store moved to a new location, but, other than that, it seems like Juneau was frozen in time. It's as if Juneau was launched in to space and traveled at the speed of a light for the past 1.5 years, aging only a few seconds, while I stayed back here on Earth getting older. I never understood physics, but you get what I mean....

This Kingfisher hasn't changed a bit; he is still fishing the Mendenhall River next to my office, just where I left him in 2008.

I'm living in a great house on the hill above downtown Juneau. I share it with a marine biology professor.


All in all, it's pretty freakin awesome to be back here. It's a great change of pace from the Bay area. No traffic, my commute is 10 minutes (with lots of eagles along the way), we don't have to lock our door, and there are giant animals everywhere.


Humpback whale, you are so large.


Humpback whale, lunge-feeding, mouth agape.


Steller's sea lion, you are also large.


Large sea lions gather on rocks above the water where large whales feed below large mountains.

But let me take a minute to recognize the smaller, but equally awesome and overwhelming wildlife around town.


Great Blue Herons have spring fever, despite the snow.


Armies of Surf Scoters decimate benthic invertebrates by brute force...

While they may be small, they, too, hang out below large mountains...


Finally, let me acknowledge the small but ferocious murrelets, of which you will likely see many more photos in the weeks to come.


Marbled murrelets on the prowl, looking guilty.

More soon. Additional photos always available at http://jonfelis.smugmug.com/Alaska

Love,
Jon