Okay well this can't be good.

An ocean used to be here. #HurricaneIrma stole it away. https://t.co/p2kzbakCWq pic.twitter.com/7KqwL49D0t

— CNN (@CNN) September 10, 2017

That is just incredibly humbling to witness the awesome power of nature.

And now that being demonstrated all over Florida.

You can click here to see how Florida is handling it.

In many cases not too well.

Though apparently there is not enough devastation of loss of life to impress Ann Coulter.

I wish cables would mention the hurricane. There is a decidedly heavier-than-average morning dew in Miami; Palm Beach bordering on breezy.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 10, 2017

Things aren't all bad however.

The history of the universe in ten minutes.

Amazing isn't it?

Of course this is only for those who are willing to accept the brutality, beauty, and unpredictability to nature.

For everybody else the go to explanation is, God did it.

I feel badly for those people.

After a day of reporting the kind of news that I reported today I think I will close out with what has now become my favorite "Moment of Zen."

Alaska Governor Bill Walker and President Obama flying to Anchorage.

High five.

It makes me very nervous to see the President sitting in a small plane in Alaska.

The children's President

How could he not want to come back?

It is not only the children of Alaska who love him.

Sorry, always going to be my favorite part of the visit.

Last one, my karma is all repaired now.

Somebody sent me a link to the White House site with these amazing pictures and all day long as I reported on Franklin Graham's plan to create a theocracy, Sarah Palin's beg-a-thon, burned Planned Parenthood clinics, and Chris Christie being a giant ass, I knew that this would be the tonic to quell my aggravation, and calm my frustrations..

And do you know what? It worked like a charm.

Alaskan fisherman's giddy reaction to a breaching pod of humpback whales.

Sure we may have more than our fair share of crazy people. but on the other hand...look whales!

President Obama interviews the great Sir David Attenborough at the White House. A very pleasant way to end our day.

 Courtesy of the BBC:

In an extraordinary meeting of minds, President Barack Obama has interviewed Sir David Attenborough at the White House. 

During the meeting, the two men discussed the future of the planet, their passion for nature and what can be done to protect it. Excerpts can be viewed below. 

The interview was recorded in May on Sir David's 89th birthday.

As you can see my headline was not backwards, the President is actually conducting this interview because as he says he has been a huge admirer of his work for a long time.

And he is certainly not alone.

I am also a huge fan of Sir. David Attenborough and his amazing body of work.

If you watch the video, which is a touch over forty eight minutes long, you can almost hear the conservative heads in the background exploding as Attenborough and the President address the impact that man made climate change has had on our planet over and over again. 

Dear future generations, sorry.

That young man is Prince Ea, an American rapper and activist.

Here is some excerpts courtesy of the Daily Kos:  

"Dear Future Generations, I think I speak for the rest of us when I say, 'Sorry.' Sorry that we left you with a mess of a planet. Sorry that we were so caught up in our own doings - to do something." 

"Let me tell you, trees are amazing. We literally breathe the air they are creating They clean up our pollution, our carbon, store and purify our water, give us medicine that cures our disease, food that feeds us…" 

"I'm sorry that we put profits above people, greed above need, the rule of gold above the Golden Rule. I'm sorry we used nature as a credit card with no spending limit…" 

"Hey Fox News, If you don't think climate change is a threat, I dare you to interview the thousands of homeless people in Bangladesh. See while you were in your penthouse nestled, their homes were literally washed away beneath their feet due to the rising sea levels." 

"And Sarah Palin. You said you loved the smell of fossil fuels. Well, I urge you to talk to the kids of Beijing who are forced to wear pollution masks just to go to school." 

"Cut the beat." 

"I'm not sorry. This future, I do not accept it. Because an error does not become a mistake, until you refuse to correct it."

And they say our millennials are lazy and uninvolved.

Go ahead tell that to this young man. 

Kind of telling that he felt the need to call out Fox News and Sarah Palin specifically don't you think?

Here is a beautiful video of Alaska. You know just to change things up a little.

Courtesy of the YouTube page:  

Using text adapted from Robert Marshalls "Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Brooks Range" (1929) and images from Expedition Arguk (2013), "The World Beyond the World" aims to celebrate that most ancient and sublime of human pleasures: moving through a mysterious, beautiful, and unknown landscape. 

In 2013, Expedition Arguk walked and packrafted across 300 miles of wilderness in the Alaska Arctic in order to report on Arctic issues and create public-use media from this far-off but increasingly important region. "The World Beyond the World" was shot during the first third of our trip, which took place entirely in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Gates of the Arctic is the second-largest US National Park, but its extraordinary remoteness and challenging weather mean that the Park sees relatively few visitors.

Damn do I love my state.

I really think this sign should be placed all over Alaska.

Sign at The Mad Hatcher (Hatcher Pass, Alaska.)

Not to sound too arrogant, but the facts are that my state kills both outsiders and residents, with alarming regularity.

We have lots of high places to fall from, animals that will eat or kick your ass just for shits and giggles, rivers that will seemingly reach into your boat and drown you beneath it, and weather that will coax you out of doors with sunshine only to rip your body heat away with freezing rain and wind just as soon as you are a mile or more away from your automobile.

And then there's the people. The whole state is like a giant penal colony with no bars separating you from the inmates.

We have some of the highest rates of suicide, alcohol abuse, drug use, and gun violence in the country.

But then again the place is so damn beautiful. I mean the mountains are just sparkling in the morning light, and the sky is this gorgeous shade of blue.

I hear birds outside my window singing to the dawn, and is that the smell of pine and chimney smoke wafting through the window?

What was I saying before?

Oh never mind. I have to grab my car keys and head off to the local national park for a quick hike. The sun is up, so I will leave my jacket at home, after all what can go wrong?

A time lapse video of Anchorage that will make you wish that you lived here too.

Courtesy of the Movoto Blog:  

This stunning time lapse of Anchorage places you right in the middle of what you could only hope to see in person. I’m talking about the Northern Lights, and they’ll absolutely give you chills. 

Cinematographer Zan Butler transforms the dark, cold winter into a season of understated beauty. Watch as the open spaces that surround the city fill the frames and push any sight of people into the margins. Apart from the slight flashes of distant streetlights, winding cars, and overhead planes, the icy mountains and waterways are undisturbed.

Just imagine, I get to see this everyday.

My daughter occasionally gets on my case for not wanting to visit the lower 48, or leave the country. But I always say why should I, when I am constantly amazed by what is just outside my very own door?

Kind of a nice change after that whole everything's on fire video I shared earlier, don't you think?

Nothing humorous about the Funny River fire in Alaska.

Courtesy of the NewsMiner:  

A massive wildfire pushed by wind in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage continued to explode in size, leading to mandatory evacuations of 1,000 structures, officials said Sunday. 

The number of people told to flee their homes isn't clear, said Michelle Weston, spokeswoman with the Alaska Interagency Management Team, which includes the state Division of Forestry and federal and local officials. 

Officials said that as of 4 p.m. Alaska time, the fire covered nearly 243 square miles and may continue to grow as it burns in the 1.9 million-acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Reports came in last night that the fire had jumped the Kenai River, putting the town of Sterling in jeopardy as well.

The air quality in Anchorage continues to be pretty bad, and I went outside just now and there is a definite smell of smoke in the air.

The good news is that it is supposed to rain tomorrow, and that should help quite a bit.

At least that is what we are hoping for.

How wolves change rivers.

This is an incredible story of the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, after being hunted to extinction in the area, and how their return dramatically changed the landscape.

Viewing this should be made mandatory for everybody who suggests that wolf populations be controlled by man or who feel that there is no harm in over hunting.

We have done so much damage in our clumsy attempts to manage predator populations in the past, and it is in the best interests of the planet, and all of its inhabitants, for us to do a much, much better job going forward.

Final palate cleansing thought for the day.

(Source.)

The challenge of driving in Alaska.

To be honest I have never personally hit a bear with my car. And I have only seen one dart out into traffic when i was a kid.

I have seen far more moose, and had a few close call with them however.

Gotta admire that bear's gymnastics ability.

Good night my IM friends.

Yep, that's my home. Pretty awesome right?

Get some sleep folks, there is a whole lot more craziness coming our way tomorrow.

Wi-fi trees.

Gotta point.

For those who expressed jealousy over last night's camping trip.

Courtesy of the YouTube channel:

 Filmed over 2 weeks in Alaska's Denali National Park and the Inside Passage. The Mt. McKinley summit revealed itself on a lucky day - a massive white peak blanketed in clouds and snow. Rivers of ice curve around the surrounding peaks.

Remember, despite the ugliness of our politics, Alaska is really a magnificent country filled with awe inspiring scenery and incredible beauty in virtually every direction.

How Alaskans know that it is time to stop fishing.

There is no end to the stories of anglers in Alaska being chased away from fishing spots, often sacrificing their scaly booty in the process.

However years ago I met a young man who did not recognize his place on the food chain and he decided to fight back, literally.

As the bear was approaching he kept reeling in his catch, which he described as the most beautiful Silver Salmon he had ever seen. The bear arrived on the scene just as the fish arrived onshore, and he started to lunge for it. My friend used his pole to pull the fish to him, and the bear followed the fish right up to where he caught it with his hand.

In a moment of pure adrenaline, and not an ounce of common sense, my friend punched the medium size black bear in the head, assuming, incorrectly, that it would back off.

Instead the bear reared up its hind legs and knocked the young man on his ass. Then the bear gave a final huff, and walked off with his prize towing my friend's favorite fishing pole behind him.

My friend used to be invited to schools, business conventions, and child care centers to tell that story. After telling it he would show them the scar on his left temple and remind the audience that NO fish is worth taking on a bear.

I once asked him what he would have done if the bear had been a Grizzly, and he said "I would have crapped myself and given him every fish I caught that day."

And THAT, by the way, is the appropriate response in my opinion.

The view outside my house. Today.

Crappy I-Phone picture out my front door

Crappy I-Phone picture out my back door.

Now look I am a lifelong Alaskan.

Rarely, and I mean RARELY, does the weather effect me.

I don't suffer from SAD, drink excessively when it is dark, or bitch and moan because I have to shovel my driveway for the third time in one day. (Okay maybe I HAVE done that last one a few times.)

And if you are one of those bitchy people who is always complaining about the weather, or about how you have to eat cartons of Hagen Dazs ice cream to deal with your depression, or how getting out of bed is so hard because it is always dark outside, I have no sympathy for you.  Get out, because some of us like it here, and we will like it even more once you shut the hell up!

However,..having said that...WTF Alaska?

I mean come on!

Before yesterday there was not a flake of snow still left near my house. I just got my bike tuned up to start riding this week, my house is in the process of being painted, and Sunday was the day I had finally decided to get off my ass and rake my yard.

You know the yard that is now covered in an inch and half of new fallen snow. In May!

Yes I know, this is Alaska, we have late snowfalls.

But I am here to tell you that THIS is unusual even for here.

Now if you will excuse me I have to eat a carton of Haagen Dazs ice cream and go get back into bed.

(P.S. Here is more about our unseasonably low temperatures.)

Finally! An afterlife that I can believe in.

And my favorite part is I don't have to live my life by some ancient primitive standards in order to access it.

I'm serious, I think I might do this. I would love to be part of nature and to "live" forever as something that provides life giving oxygen to the planet.

Here is an Alaskan "moment of zen" to send you off to dreamland.

Backyard Moose in Palmer, Alaska from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.
My friend Dennis Zaki recorded this out of his back window in Palmer the other day.

They are pretty majestic alright.