Alaska
The
last frontier
My
name is Kayleigh Stump.
I
was born in a small fishing community in south east
For
16 years I lived on the
I
have never been anywhere since, that has matched it’s unique beauty.
As
a child, it was not uncommon to walk home under a sky full of swirling color or
To
play indoors during recess because the occasional
lost
bear.
Summers
were long and Christmas were white,
Smoked salmon and blueberries were the staple
foods,
Extra
Tuffs, long underwear, and wool hats were the fashion.
The
only way on or off the island was by ferry or float plane.
Despite
common misconception I never lived in an igloo or harpooned any marine mammals.
I
have never been ice fishing or dog sledding.
I
have however played on icebergs, rescued a baby eagle, and suffered from a mild
case of frostbite.
Although
I am now a California resident, Alaska will always be my home land.
www.kayleighstump@empirecollege.com
Forget-me-nots
are Alaska’s state flower.
The
stories behind how the flower got its name vary but one version is about
A
suitor scaling a cliff to gather a bouquet of these flowers for his love.
As
he reached for them he lost his footing and fell.
While
he was falling he cried out to her, “Forget me not”.
The
Ballad of the Northern Lights
They
rippled green with a wonderous sheen,
they fluttered out like a fan;
They spread the blaze of rose-pink rays
never yet seen of man.
They writhed like a brood of angry snakes,
hissing and sulphur pale;
Then swift they changed to a dragon vast,
lashing a cloven tale
-Robert
Service
The Northern
Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, are produced by the collision of
charged particles
from the Earth’s magnetosphere.