Ice Fog

Tuesday Volunteers of America, Alaska, opened our 24 bed residential facility for teenagers recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. The original $3.5 million seed money was an earmark from Uncle Teddie. While I was one of the votes that turned him out and put Begich in as the new Democratic freshman senator from Alaska, it is no wonder that the count was so close. Ted Stevens brought a lot of federal dollars home to Alaska. And some of them were actually well spent.

We had a party (that I was in charge of) and the food and festivities were great. Several hundred people attended the ribbon cutting and toured the facility throughout the afternoon. Good day of celebration.

But I was blessed before I even got there. An ice fog blanket swathed the drive. It was sparkling magic. Like a snow globe frozen in space. The trees all looked like they had been dipped in thick sugar crystals. And the way the sun broke through it with shafts of finery put glitter to shame.

It has been a cold, cold week. Sometimes our teenagers face impossibly lonely, dark days. We have given them a safe home and some high expectations. A place to pause and ponder and wonder and change. Sometimes the right environment can do that for us.

And that is brilliant.