The Wonder of Nature

Garrett and I spent last week in Alaska, on a cruise. It was an amazing and much-needed vacation, during which nature was the main attraction. We saw and heard some of the most incredible things in Alaska. We watched the Hubbard Glacier as it calved--shed falling pieces of ice--into Yakutat/Disenchantment Bay. We witnessed humpback whales play and feed. We observed salmon frantically trying to reach their birthplaces, often journeying thousands of miles, just to mate and then die.

The display of nature was stunning. And as we got off the ship and headed back to Tucson, we started learning more about another stunning force of nature: Hurricane Katrina. At the time, it was merely a threat to the Gulf Coast. And now, as we know, that awful threat has been realized.

Nature. She's a force with unlimited power.

As the Weekly approaches this week's deadline, the news coming out of New Orleans, Mobile and other communities in Katrina's path just keeps getting worse. All we can really do right now is hope and pray for the best.

Our thoughts go out to everyone affected in Louisiana, Mississippi and beyond, especially to the folks who work for our Wick sister newspapers in the area, and to our friends at New Orleans' alternative newspaper, Gambit Weekly.