Before we dive into the ugliness of Alaska political landscape, let's take a moment to remember the beauty that makes it all worthwhile.

This is was taken just down the street from where I live.

Every once in a while I find myself struck by the sun glinting off the mountains, or the clouds lazily drifting across the azure sky, and I stop in my tracks and wonder how I ever got so lucky to have lived my whole life surrounded by such beauty.