A Heart Made of Tundra
As we were driving back to Anchorage along Turnagain Arm yesterday afternoon I was looking at the tentatively budding greenery and flowers along the edge of the road. Plants in Alaska are so hardy. When I think of thriving greenery in other places, I think of big colorful flowers and leaves, but in Alaska, the flowers are relatively small and stay close to the ground and everything is a bit more unruly. Even though Washington doesn't seem at first glance that much different from Alaska, there's something about the landscape and plant growth which is hardwired to get through the long, frigid Alaskan winters. I thought to myself that I felt very much like those tiny, hardy flowers. I don't imagine I'm anything akin to a bunch of roses or a sprawling field of tulips. I figure I'm more of a tundra.
I've always liked the way my photos looked in Alaska, more than in any other place I've taken them, and I just realized that maybe it's because I'm in my natural habitat. I feel my soul resonate at the same pitch as my surroundings. The little tundra transplanted in Washington is momentarily reintroduced to her Alaskan soil and digs her tiny roots into the ground to absorb just a bit of home before heading back to Tacoma.
