Sunrise, Sunset

The last two days we have been blessed with glorious weather. The sun rose and set over our small village managing to hold back the envious clouds. Even with the sun beaming brightly, the mischievous cirrus kept us all guessing. Just how long would they allow the sun to remain king?…thankfully it was for more than a day. With rays shining strongly, folks took to the outdoors with eagerness; riding bikes, walking, eating outside, sitting on benches in front of Grandma Nina’s, young ones enjoying soft serve ice cream, elder ones sitting on their porches watching for whales. The sun brought a fresh view of the cannery from our bedroom window. All the Hoonah landscape looked renewed and energized from our hillside perch. With Steve still at his conference in Anchorage, it was up to Andrew and me “to make hay”. We went on long walk, explored the shore, played soccer at the park, picked our favorite boat docked at the pier, moseyed slowly home and ate dinner at our small table by the window to take full advantage of the closing scene of the day. As the sun moved closer to the mountainous horizon, bursting through the curtain of clouds, and the last boat of the day slowing moving toward harbor, its’ wake breaking the steel stillness of the water… a conversation took place that gives great insight as to the simple beauty of this place and the happiness it can bring. “Mom, people are so lucky to live here.” Andrew muttered, looking out the window. “Why?” I asked. “It is beautiful” he replied firmly, his blue eyes flashing at me, then returning his gaze to the window he added “This place is everything I’ve ever wanted.” “Really?” I said, trying not to sound too surprised. With great conviction he delivered his reasons, “Yeah, we have a house with stairs, we live by the ocean, and there are cool boats everywhere. We live in a small town where we can walk to school and I have great friends.” He paused then and thoughtfully shared, “ I hope we can always come back to Hoonah…even when I’m old.”