The Color of Water and Glaciers

Dear readers and writers,

I wrote about the indescribable color of the water in bays with tidewater glaciers that slowly pour their ice into the water before I went to Alaska to visit Glacier Bay.  I thought I'd post a few of the pictures I took there.  It isn't possible to capture exactly the blue that you see when there, in fact I see when I paste them in that the computer won't even show the same blues I can see on my camera screen, but you can get some indication of how overwhelming the presence of these natural phenomena can be.  What I can't show you at all is the crack and thunder you hear when the new icebergs give way and fall into the water from the face of the glacier.
Cheers,
Laura

Glaciers and Icebergs and a Blue, Blue Sea

Dear readers and writers,

We've just decided to go up the Inland Passage of Alaska this summer, after talking about it from time to time for years.  We worry that waiting much longer will erode the glaciers too much and there may be nothing to see.   The glaciers seem to believe there is global warming; they are retreating a noticeable amount every year.

I don't know if you've seen pictures of the Inland Passage or Glacier Bay, but the azure ice rises a thousand feet above you and ice bergs split off with thunderous booms and float away.  The cold water is a deep blue, not the anemic grey-blue foamy ocean I grew up knowing from Myrtle Beach, SC or even the aqua-then-navy shading of La Jolla's beach.  It's such a deep color it's hard to photograph successfully, I've been told.  I don't know why this scenery has captured my imagination so thoroughly, but it may have something to do with the dolphin and whale games I used to play with my kids.  Anyway, this will be one for my bucket list for sure.  No doubt, it will show up in a story or poem soon.

Do you plan to go somewhere that will stimulate your imagination this summer?  I hope so!

cheers,
Laura
Photo from Wikipedia/Creative Commons with thanks.