Alaska, James Michener

The first word that comes to mind when thinking about Alaska is "big." The second is "adventure" (Ok, "cold" might be another one, but just bear with me). Put them together and you get the essence of this book: a big adventurous saga. In typical Michener fashion, he crafts a 1,000+ page series of stories that revolve around the cultural history of Alaska, starting from its geological formation to the time the book was published (1988). 

It begins with stories about mastodons, woolly mammoths, and the Asiatic migrators who crossed the Bering Land Bridge during the last Ice Age. Then it goes far ahead in time to the Age of Exploration, when Vitus Bering and Georg Stellar became the first Europeans to land on those cold shores. The many clashes between natives and Europeans, particularly the Russians, entail a large portion of the first half of the book. Trofim's fate as a redeemer against animal cruelty was a touching story, as was Cidaq's struggle against an abusive husband and the Christianization of her native land. 

Stories about the Gold Rush occupy a huge chunk of the book. No character makes more appearances than Missy Peckham, a vagabond gold-digger turned staunch feminist. Her resilience for fair regulation in Alaska really drives the long march to statehood forward. I'd say of all the social issues addressed in the novel, none are more prominent than the lack of government regulations in light of such a vast territory being purchased. The period from 1867-1959 was one of quasi-anarchy, in which a great number of swindlers took advantage of a lacking judicial system in the territory. 

Scenic descriptions abound in the book, including the Aurora Borealis; the icy rivers and extensive glaciers that flank the high mountains; the many waterways that carve the southern coast; and the frozen tundra of the far north, but none of them compare to the first sighting of (arguably) the most imposing mountain in all of North America: Denali. Of all the memorable moments in the book, and there were many, none are greater than LeRoy Flatch seeing this masterpiece of sculpted Earth from the air for the first time. Remarkably, Michener leaves no section of the state untouched. The Aleutians, the Panhandle, the craggy interior, and the northern tundra are all covered in these stories. Being that Alaska's so enormous, it's a wonder that he was able to touch on all the right historical events and locations and still find a decent pace to the stories. 

I even recall a delightful story about a migrating salmon! Who knew? 

The Joke of the Century?

     The joke of the century might be that our president and his minions don't realize the media they loathe are the ones who got him elected.  You wonder why they say there's no such thing as bad publicity?  Popularity "trumps" the rational selection.  Now the media is desperately trying to discredit the president, because they know that the more controversy he generates, the more views and likes they get in return.  As far as I can tell, the media isn't worried about Donald making them the "opposition party" because A) press censorship is illegal, and B) they understand that Donald benefits as much from media exposure as they do. 

Alone

    Alone.  A word.  A buried silence.  All yearnings converted into structure.  The balance is lost, the day falls.  Night covers my soul, a dungeon of ice.  Every day I get on the same bus, every day I get off.  There's always one more guest to check in, one more homeless guy to kick out.  My karma bleeds with every cut from the knife of duty.  That which forces benevolence on the rich and privileged, forces dejection on the needy and vulnerable.  It's not my fault, but it still hurts.

A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

Wow, reading this was absolutely mortifying. Anyone interested should be warned; it’s an intense psychological examination of Jude St. Francis, the victim of extreme childhood abuse who struggles with suicide and self-injury his whole life. Author Hanya Yanaghira is so talented at streamlining the inner thoughts of a deeply troubled mind that one wonders if she struggled with similar issues, or knew someone very closely who did. At times it even felt like I was reading my own thoughts, back when I had such little self-worth that the world became unbearable. 

The book has been a rewarding challenge for thousands of brave readers who aren’t bothered by such dark details. It’s one of the few books I’ve rated 5 stars that I wouldn’t recommend anyone reading. Nonetheless, it will stand among the giants of literature for quite some time, as a prime example of the horrible things people are capable of doing to each another. We can only hope that books like this won’t be used to judge the defects of our culture hundreds of years from now, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they are. 

National Parks: America's Best Idea

    Wallace Stegner once said that the national park system was America's best idea.  Play my quiz on FunTrivia.com to see how many you know.  Fun facts from the quiz:

1) Mt. Mazama's enormous caldera holds all of Crater Lake inside it. The mountain erupted in around 5,677 BC, reducing its height from about 12,000 feet to 7,000. It's estimated that the eruption was 42 times larger than the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980. The Klamath tribe, native to the area, recorded it as being a battle between their god of the underworld and their sky god. 

Crater Lake is the ninth deepest lake in the world and the deepest in the USA. There are no streams or rivers that supply it with water- it comes solely from rainfall and snow.

2)  Skyline Drive follows a ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains that goes nearly all the way through Shenandoah NP. The best time to visit is in the fall, when the leaves are changing color. After the creation of the park in 1935, the families living on the land were asked to leave their homes, as it had become federal property. Not surprisingly, many were upset and didn't want to leave their beautiful valley. The government let some of them stay after their property was acquired, until they died. The last Shenandoah resident died in 1979, at the age of 92. 

3) Petrified Forest in Arizona offers some surreal examples of crystallized wood. This happens when minerals become trapped in the wood for ages after being buried under volcanic ash and other sediment. The wood from this park is thought to be as old as the Triassic Period. The lack of oxygen preserved the wood because it inhibited its decomposition. Water brought minerals like quartz and iron oxides and trapped them inside the plant cells, causing a stony mold to replace the organic decay. The fossils of Late Triassic ferns, gingkos, phytosaurs, and dinosaurs have also been found in the park.

4) Olympic National Park has three distinct ecosystems. Ruby Beach is a favorite of the coastal one, while the Hoh Rainforest nestles at the heart of the temperate one. Sitka Spruces, Douglas Firs, and Western Hemlocks grow in abundance there. Hurricane Ridge is the star attraction of the sub-alpine interior, where many glaciated peaks can be viewed from.

5) Joshua Tree National Park stunning desert landscape that has many clusters of otherworldly trees and boulders. The park, which had only been a monument when U2 named their album after it, is featured on the album cover. Part of the inspiration in using the park was the band's determination to find sounds that evoked feelings of being in the type of open country that their rock roots (blues and jazz) came from. The atmospheric opener Where the Streets Have No Name surely delivered that sentiment.

6) Yosemite Valley is one of the most iconic images in the national park catalog. On one side is El Capitan, a giant 3,000 foot monolith, and a favorite of rock climbers. On the other side rises Half Dome, a rocky peak that appears to be cut in half, yet is only an illusion when viewed from certain angles. Horsetail Fall is a seasonal waterfall on the east side of El Capitan. The falls will light up red at a certain time in February when the sun is setting.

7) A common misconception about Mammoth Cave is that fossils of the extinct woolly mammoth were found here. However, it's only named after the large entrance to the cave. Modern discoveries of the true extent of the cave system have rendered its name even more appropriate. Some attractions in the cave include Frozen Niagara, Gothic Avenue, and Cedar Sink. Frozen Niagara isn't a frozen waterfall, though it may look like one. It's actually a series of what are called flowstones: sheetlike deposits of calcites that formed where water fell along the walls of the cave.

8) Great Sand Dunes in Colorado have the largest dunes in North America, and are still growing. Sand and sediment unearthed from the melting of glaciers that fed the Rio Grande were carried away by westerly winds. The winds ran into the Sangre de Cristo Range and weakened, building up the dunes we now see in their shadow. Be careful when hiking on the dunes- strong winds can blow the sand right in your face!

9) The Wonderland Trail circumnavigates Mt. Rainier. Views of the mountain can be seen from almost every angle as it circles around the base of its glaciated summit.  The trail is 93 miles long and fluctuates between about 2,300-6,700 feet.  Only 200-250 experienced hikers are able to complete the full circle per year.

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