The labyrinth before me is magical

It seems like every weekend my days off keep getting better and better. Juneau really is a magical place, with so many places to discover, things to do, and nice people to meet.
Last weekend Johnny and I took out his boat where Sheep Creek spills into the ocean. The chum salmon were jumping all around us. I mean 100’s of them. So we went out to enjoy the scenery of the beautiful Gastineau Straight and to see if Johnny could catch a salmon. He is a big time fly fisherman, like I mentioned before he was a fishing guide down in Wyoming. All he had was his fly rod and flies to catch trout, so even with the plentitude of fish he didn’t catch any. So to top off our unsuccessful but enjoyable evening we went to the Twisted Fish for dinner. Where of course I had Salmon for dinner.
I had promised to go out with the gang from Sheep Creek to the night life around downtown Juneau. Johnny opted out so I met them and we bar hopped and had basically a fun but silly night. Sean and Matt (my handler) were busy being boys trying to meet girls. While we girls either danced, met new people or tried to encourage girls to hang out with Matt and Sean. I had some interesting conversations. One with an Eskimo guy from Nome that lives in Juneau now. He taught me some Eskimo words, none of which I remember now, much to my dismay. I also talked to the same mushers from Linwood Fiedeler’s camp that I hung out with on a few weeks ago at their bonfire on the beach. I guess a couple of them will be running the Mt. Robert’s Tram Run which is this Saturday. Our camp has been running a few races. Since our run in the “Only Fool’s Run” everyone has kept running. 6 of us ran in a 10k last week. We are team Sheep Creek and we are making a name for ourselves around Juneau. Partially because of our strange cart-pulling performance, and partially because of our enthusiasm. It doesn’t hurt either that Sean and Matt H. place pretty well in the races too. Needless to say we have a vendetta against Linwood’s camp at this Mt Robert’s Race. They are going down!!!
I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am. I camped over on Douglas Island so I could get up in time for a 5k called the Governor’s Cup that would start at 9:00am downtown. Matt (my handler) and Sean were supposed to run in the race but I was the only one to show up. They had shown less self control the night before than I had. But I was still feeling a little “rough around the edges” being I had only had 3 hours of sleep before the race. Still I did well. I came in 2nd in my division, and had a pretty decent time. Now I am 2nd for the Empire Cup, which is a cumulative point contest that goes through out the summer. Goes to show that persistence pays, because I am not the fastest runner but I do try to go to every race, and I always try to do a little bit better. I had a nice “runner’s high” after the race, so I was excited to go get a coffee and meet up with everyone to enjoy the rest of the day. `
A few weeks ago I stopped at beautiful place 20 miles north of Juneau on my way to the end of the road. It is an old monastery called the Shrine of St. Theresa. It sits on a little peninsula that hangs out into the Lynn Canal just north of Auk Bay. It is a serene and spiritual place no matter what religion you claim, so I decided to take a bunch of us from camp there. Kym, Caellyn, Sean, Matt, Cosmos and I all took off in my big blue dog truck and headed up the road. I felt like a Hierophant, guiding everyone on a spiritual day camp. It was a beautiful day, it was overcast but the clouds added to the ethereal feel of the day. There is an old stoned church that sits on top of a knoll. You can see the ocean on three sides. It is surrounded by the 14 Stations of the Cross. So there are stone pillars scattered through out the moss covered Spruce forest. Each with a marble carving of an event in the resurrection of Christ. It is very well laid out, for example the station where they place Jesus in the tomb, is down in a hole, it is dark and low. Then the resurrection is up on top of a sunny hill and you can see the surrounding ocean.
Everyone separated and went off in quiet meditation. It was a wonderful afternoon. There are beautiful gardens everywhere. One is called the Columbarium. Every flower, rock and plant is specifically laid out to represent a bible verse and meaning.
The coolest part is a Labyrinth. A little clearing where paths are outlined with stones. The paths wind in and around themselves so that they form a cross inside of a circle. A labyrinth is different than a maze in that there are no choices in the path you take. You just follow one path to an ultimate goal. Which in this case is a large stone in the center. Everyone carries a small significant item and places it on the stone. It is a meditative exercise and as you can tell very metaphorical to life itself. I placed a Yukon Quest sticker on the rock in the middle, for that is my focus right now. Along with some feathers I had found during the day.
On the way back to town we all stopped at Auk Recreation Center. We walked to the end of Lena Point. There were some people out there snagging Chums. I showed everyone how to determine a Chum salmon from all of the other species. Thanks to all of my years in the fish industry. I decided I should really go get a fishing license and a pole so I can can up some salmon for the summer. It would be nice to have to eat and also to leave with people that I stay with as I travel around the Yukon and Alaska this winter.
We went back to town and I met back up with Johnny for coffee. (Yes again, I went from being a barista to not having coffee except on my day off so I am still doing well) We stopped by the music store so he could get more picks for his Ukulele he just bought. Johnny and two other girls on the glacier bought ukuleles and are going to start a ukulele “band.” they are nice because they are small and light so they can take them in the helicopters on the glacier and not worry about weight or size restrictions. So while we were there I found a Pan Flute. I had been wanting one for quite sometime now. I was so excited, but I didn’t have money, (I purposely put my money away so we can have a great winter this year and focus on racing not working.) So Johnny bought it for me and now I owe him. I also got a book by Pablo Coelho written in Spanish the weekend before which I am slowly trying to read. All in preparation in someday traveling to Peru and Chile. So maybe if I practice long enough they will let me be a member of the Ukulele Band.
I finished off the wonderful day off by going out for pizza with all of the glacier people that had been stranded down in Juneau due to weather. They were trying to get me to “upgrade” to working on the glacier. It s nice to be wanted but I am not sure it would in fact be upgrading. We have a pretty nice set up here in Sheep Creek. It nice to be able to do things like go for jog or pick berries. Things that are not possible when you are on a glacier. But I would make the sacrifice for my dogs, if someone would actually tell me that it is better for the dogs. No one can say, but still maybe one season I will send on the glacier just for the experience.