Homer, Alaska — The Sweetest Kingdom of Oppositions

I love the version of myself that shows up in Alaska in the summer. Especially in Homer, the hometown of my husband Arron (WAC founder + CEO), a place whose multitudes are infinitely expressed.

I took a walk down the Homer Spit the other day and realized that beyond being a world of astonishing beauty, this place is also a sweet kingdom of oppositions. A place whose essence hangs in the tension between its many polarities. Extreme low tides that expose temporary tableaus of marine vibrancy against high tides that clean the slates for new ones to emerge. A place where you look up from those same shores and see tiny airplanes and giant birds — bald eagles! — soaring through electric blue skies, themselves so vivid against the fluorescence of the pink-orange buoys that seem to show up here as a kind of experiential punctuation.

On this wild piece of land, the silhouettes of behemoth glacial mountain ranges form compositions with cranes always at work, hauling totes full of fish off of vessels onto the harbor dock. Here on the Spit, dingy meets delicate as the landscape is laden with parts and petals—old pieces of boat parts and rusting relics from some bygone time overgrown with wild flowers and the newness of their dew. The purple lupin shows off the last of its blooms by the middle of July, making way for the reign of the fireweed, which in this part of Alaska starts in a shock of hot pink and finishes its season in a blaze of red.

I think I like the version of myself that shows up here in the summer because even in its abundance, Homer palpably reminds me that something is always ending while another thing begins, that the universal law of impermanence is the only permanent thing, and that the dance of these transitions is the beauty of existence. Here’s to the sweet blessing of getting to witness this dance again and again.

Live Wild!

Monica

P.S. Next week, the WAC team will be in Alaska for a wild gathering in the North, so we won’t be providing phone or chat support while we are away — Wednesday, July 22 through Wednesday, July 29. We are responding to emails, though our response times will be longer than usual. The best way to get in touch with us is to visit our Contact Page. Also, make sure to check out our Help Center, where you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions. We thank you all for your patience. 

Pictured here: Parts, petals, moments and motifs captured on a sun-lit afternoon on the Homer Spit.