After a long vacation and some health issues the Stroller will return in June. After suffering the loss of my best friend, the right wing anchor to my left wing sages, who (hopefully) gave the column some balance, I have gathered together a group of folks who’s ideas are of value and by expressing them here may not be tainted by their public image. Kind of like the Federalist Papers. As always I will act as a kind of referee or clearing house of perspective. As always, this column has no agenda except perspective. I hope all of you come back to read us. I know, without Governor Sarah we’re probably not going to attract the numbers we did in the past but I hope that those of you with a brain and a heart for the idea of what Alaska is and can be will come home to those of us who really care. The new contributors include a couple Senate Presidents, House Speakers, Governors, reporters, political activists……. all unidentified so you concentrate on the ideas and not the personalities. Welcome back…. tell your friends that all this goes down a lot smoother if you ‘just out a squirt of lemon in it’.

Stroller

Douglas Island, conveniently located a few hundred yards across the Gastineau Channel from Alaska’s capitol city, the focal point of the Stroller’s living room view, is a breathtaking charcoal etching.

The island’s hill and mountain ridges, chiseled against a brilliant blue sky by a recent confectioner sugar snow fall on our third growth trees, create a scene reminiscent of a Rie Munoz print.

The Stroller buttoned his camel hair trench coat against a mid-morning breeze drifting off the cold winter waters of the Gastinau Channel and carefully navigated the three blocks of black ice covered sidewalks between the Capitol building and the Baranof Hotel’s Capitol Cafe.

After almost three weeks of relentless crystal clear blue skies this day’s high grey clouds are a soothing return to normalcy. Too much of a good thing can dull one’s senses to the Channel’s breathtaking beauty and, besides, locals are hoping to save some our limited yearly allotment of sunshine for the warmer days of summer.

During the course of life, the Stroller has had the privilege of meeting and, on occasion, befriending some extraordinary people.  Willie Iggiagruk Hensley is one.  The Stroller is proud to claim him as a friend.

Willie just wrote a book, ‘Fifty Miles From Tomorrow’, his autobiography.  It’s a story that defines Alaska,  who we are, where we came from and what we need to think about while charging off into the future.

Weather in our Capitol city, which has been problematic during the past few weeks, finally broke to crystal clear skies. The month of January gave Juneau about 80 inches of snow, a record.

Alaska Airline’s flights, and the frequent flyer state lawmakers on them, found it difficult to land at our airport and many overheaded to Sitka, forced to enjoy large wedges of the legendary pies at the Sitka airport while waiting out the weather.