Glacier Gardens ~

Posted by Maverick ~ on June 6, 2016
Posted in: Flowers, Nature, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

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The botanical garden in Juneau borders the Tongass National Forest which is the second largest rain forest in the world. Amazon being the largest. The unique feature of Glacier Gardens are the upside down trees. The owner was using an excavator to move rocks and toppled trees when a large boulder damaged his equipment. In frustration he picked up a tree and slammed it into the muddy ground. It stuck. Thus the idea of upside down trees was born with flowers planted in the roots.

“A view is what you see with your eyes open, a vision you can see with your eyes closed.”
– Steve Bowhay

🌷

There she blows ~

Posted by Maverick ~ on June 2, 2016
Posted in: Music, Nature, Photography. Tagged: , , , , .

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“We humans, as species, are interested in communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Would not a good beginning be improved communication with terrestrial intelligence, with other human beings of different cultures and languages, with the great apes, with the dolphins, but particularly with those intelligent masters of the deep, the great whales?” — Carl Sagan   🐳

🐋

White Pass & Yukon Route

Posted by Maverick ~ on May 31, 2016
Posted in: Nature, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , .

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White Pass and Yukon Railroad was built during the Klondike Gold Rush and is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. One of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the world it climbs about 3,000 feet in just 20 miles. The steel bridge was the tallest in the world when constructed in 1901.

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🚂

Decoration Day ~

Posted by Maverick ~ on May 30, 2016
Posted in: Flowers, Photography, Poetry. Tagged: , , , , , , .

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Decoration Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry’s shot alarms!

Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon’s sudden roar,
Or the drum’s redoubling beat.

But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.

All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!

Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.

🔶

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Skagway ~

Posted by Maverick ~ on May 29, 2016
Posted in: Music, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

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Skagway means beautiful woman derived from the early inhabitants Tlingit language.
She was also once a gold digger and became a boom town during the late 1800’s gold rush.

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Most of the buildings have been preserved and today it’s designated as a historic site while serving the tourist trade.  The town of about 1,000 people doubles when a cruise ship arrives in the harbor.

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The two buildings on each end are reported as being haunted.  The Red Onion Saloon built in 1898 is now listed as a National Historic Building but was once Skagway’s most exclusive bordello.

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My lodging was at the Historic Skagway Inn which was also a brothel during the gold rush days but is now a charming little Bed & Breakfast. I stayed in the lovely Hattie’s room. Pictured below.

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WPC: Spare

Posted by Maverick ~ on May 28, 2016
Posted in: Nature, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

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“There’s time enough, but none to spare.”  Charles W. Chesnutt

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Spare

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It was about a one hour flight over the mountains from Juneau to Skagway.  One hopes that the pilot isn’t having a really bad day.  Glaciers and mountains provided a spare but often scenic landscape.

🎤