Pictured in my icon: the side of the building where I now sit and type.

I am in Juneau. Now I can write a book about it.

Just a few observations quickly:

The crows own this town. They are incredibly large, and they swoop over the town in pairs, calling to each other. In fact I am convinced that I am seeing and hearing both crows and ravens. Some of them have flat head feathers and say “caaawwww.” Others have spiky head feathers and emit a higher pitched cry. All are GIANT. Chicken-sized.

We stood on the sidewalk and peered up at a snowy mountainside just a few blocks away, rising straight up, hundreds of feet into the sky.

Douglas Island is much larger than I thought it would be.

Our hotel is really cute and homey. My wireless could drop at any time. Breakfast is free in the bakery next door. They show movies every night in a mini-theater. There’s a basket in the hall full of toiletries and things in case you forgot. Guess who didn’t bring lens solution? Me. Luckily I can use the bottle in the hall.

It is beautiful here. But odd. Isolated. Already saw a guy in rubber fishing boots. Weatherbeaten buildings. Clean air and cold wind. Most people dress as though they could go camping at any moment.

I found a grocery store in a building that used to be a church. The produce was as I expected: expensive and stunted. The avocados are lime-sized, the limes are $3/pound.

Finally: I have not seen a single pigeon. I think they were run out of town by the crows.