On our trawler, INTREPID, my husband and I are exploring Alaska by sea. Everyone knows of the natural beauty of this state…its snow-capped mountains, glaciers, fjords and so many islands crowded with trees of deep green. As we’d heard, the wealth of wildlife is astounding. We’ve seen so many humpback whales in such close proximity to our boat, that we recognize the smell of whale blow (actually a pleasant odor). Some of our favorites…eagles, puffins, bears (both black and brown), sea otters…we’ve encountered in numbers too large to keep track of.
When you see so many of these special creatures, you begin to focus on anomalies:
-the comically awkward way a puffin takes off from the water
-the strange two-hour wrestling match of two grizzlies (including a tussle in the water)
-a mother and baby humpbacks visiting our boat…twice
-the differences in the whisker color of sea otter faces (lighter means older)
-eagles plunging into the sea (two incidents), and afterwards, unable to free themselves from the water.
This vulnerability of the eagle interests me. A puffin might look awkward in his take-off but he can get himself airborne. http://www.flickr.com/photos/deemacphotos/2582404092/
An eagle, one of the strongest, most elegant birds on earth, flounders at sea. Turns out, if an eagle can’t swim to shore before hypothermia hits it, the bird will drown. http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle3.html
Often the reason for an eagle’s dunk into the ocean is that he/she has wrapped her claws around a fish too heavy for her eagle to lift. Instead of letting the fish go, the eagle hangs on.
I am puffin-like in my take-offs in life…though I’m a bit awkward in my process, my projects eventually go airborne. The eagle’s cautionary tale is important to me: don’t be smug, and for heavens sake, don’t be be greedy.
My debut novel LAST RESORT is in take-off mode. Order this thriller about treachery and terrorism:
The Wild Rose Press http://tinyurl.com/682vwgv
and Amazon http://tinyurl.com/3cq6d7b
http://www.rolynnanderson.com
http://blog.rolynnanderson.com/
Here’s the blurb: Corporate fixer Rena Gordon needs to wrench a Canadian resort out of the red in time for the Canadian-American Winter Games-but employees bent on sabotage are blocking her every move. When her loose-cannon sister arrives after being kicked out of yet another school, Rena must face the past she's worked so hard to hide, while fighting her attraction to a local fishing guide.
CIA agent Neal Jackson is undercover as a fishing guide to find terrorists at Big Bay. He needs Rena's confidence to access her employee files without exposing his identity, but despite his vow to keep a professional distance, his feelings for her are anything but businesslike.
Caught between vengeful employees, a sister who likes to party, and a hot CIA agent-Rena's corporate training didn't prepare her for this. Can she trust her instincts to save the people and resort she's grown to love?
Rolynn Anderson
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment