Juneau is between snowstorms. Tonight, a big low will move over us, dropping five inches of snow in twelve hours. But now we have sun that sparkles off on the Mendenhall Wetlands. It’s Botticelli beautiful. The tide-swollen river reflects the Mendenhall Towers until a hunting seal shatters the reflection with a messy dive.

Dog walkers start pouring onto the access trail. Most talk with their companions or with a distant relative on their cell phone. When he sees me take a photograph of the glacier, a passing dog walker says with surprised in his voice, “It is a nice day, isn’t it.” He looks, as if for the first time, at the white, glaciated mountain wall that rises above the flocked meadow. Then, his cell phone rings.