…was amazing. I’m exhausted and the airlines were a hot mess coming and going, but overall it was a wonderful way to end the school year. My hosts at the Juneau Public Library were lovely, the students were great, and community members were open to the idea of self-publishing as an act of “love & resistance.” I saw a pod of orcas, hiked through the Tongass National Forest, and toured two museums featuring incredible art by Native women. WordPress isn’t allowing me to upload any photos for some reason, but a librarian took this picture during my talk last Tuesday. You can see my photos and videos on Instagram. I slept for most of the day after landing at O’Hare at 4am yesterday and feel ready for a nap right now, but hope to get back into a writing routine so I can finish my time-travel novel this week. I’m on the very last chapter and found a talented artist in Fife to do the cover. My illustrator in Inverness is making progress, too, so next on my To Do list is to send her some notes…

The surprising thing about Alaska was how Canadian I felt while I was there. I’m writing a poem a day for the month of June but struggled to explain my affinity for the landscape and the Native art. My mother took us across country from Toronto to Vancouver by train when I was five or six years old. I don’t have any photographs but my memories feel quite clear. I remember the mountains and the towering trees, the rocky seashore, the totem poles and distinct Haida aesthetic. Juneau isn’t that far from Vancouver; there are definitely overlapping cultures, histories, and geography. I still felt moved by the beauty all around me in AK but it was also familiar—and I must have driven my hosts nuts with my constant references to Scotland. Amelia even pulled down a globe while we were at the elementary school to see whether Glasgow is about the same latitude as Juneau. But for the extensive deforestation of the Highlands, their landscape would look much like Alaska’s. Scotland has just reintroduced beavers and I saw firsthand in the temperate rainforest how the clever little creatures transform the environment. I lucked out and had two sunny days during my week but generally the sky is gray and there’s rain. I brought my Isle of Skye gear and so managed to stay warm and dry. I love being prepared (it’s one way I manage my anxiety) but maybe I need to try going somewhere that will be totally unfamiliar—if such a place exists. I suspect I would find connections to my childhood anywhere I went. Another reason to finish this novel so I can start organizing these thoughts into my memoir…

Mural of Tlingit civil rights activist Elizabeth Peratrovich by Crystal Kaakeeyáa Worl (Athabascan, Tlingit)

My May 5 Sutherland lecture is now available on YouTube. If you’re looking for tips to teach about Juneteenth using poetry, please head over to the Diverse Verse blog for my conversation with fellow poet Padma Venkatraman. The Dragons in a Bag boxed set will be available on June 13. Those are my announcements! Let summer begin…