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DaDornta

"Eight stars of gold on a field of blue,
Alaska's flag, may it mean to you,

The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes and the flowers nearby,

The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams,

The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear," the "Dipper," and shining high,

The great North Star with its steady light,
O'er land and sea a beacon bright,

Alaska's flag to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.



I love my state. I oftentimes forget just how much I love the land I was born in, and raised in.

Living in Montana I used to walk out at night and look skyward at night and see the "Big Dipper" and a tear would drop from my eye.

I love this place, despite all my motivation and attempts to "leave" it.

This song--our "State Song" brings me to tears each and every time I hear it simply because of it's honest nature--just like Alaska.

Here is a direct link to the song sung by Anchorage Chamber Choir singing the song itself. It's a very small quicktime file, less than 2MB.

Alaska's State Song

If I could embed it into this page -- I would. Please click, listen and understand why I feel so PROUD to be a product of this vast and yet desolate "last frontier".

I don't know if Texans, Virginans, or other people can be moved to tears sober by hearing their own State song-- but I can.

I hope you listen, and "feel" what it means to be an "outsider" to the rest of the United States as an "Alaskan".

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troublemaker_42

I know you're not going to like this Dornta, but this belong in People and Places, and thats where its going. you were JUST warned about this kind of thing LAST night. I'm not going to infract you, but from this point on, the staff will most likely be issuing infractions for this kind of thing. Alaska Pride--wouldn't common sense tell you that since the title references a place and the post contains content related to a particular place, that maybe it belongs in the People and Places thread? ESPECIALLY since we just covered this last night

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Ted Nugent: "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." Also by Ted "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective"

DaDornta

Thanks for the warning TM. Hope you got to read/listen to the song that makes me tear up even 100% sober. *sniff sniff*

I never realized how much I loved where I was from until I left it. I'm sure many other's here will feel/acknowledge the same feeling. We are who we are, born and bred from whilst we came.

I'll send ya some pics via PM of my new shotty at the range once I pick it up from the store, I'm sure you'll have some good/welcome advice!

-DD

DaDornta

The other night I was sitting very much as I am right now, and decided to go to my car outside for my water bottle.

I walked outside and the sky was totally clear.

I was high as hell, and leaned against my car and looked upwards to the sky. I saw all these stars and and marveled at their vast and timeless age.

I instantly noticed the big dipper (the constellation of my state flag) -- and my eyes fixed upon it. . .

I quietly sang to myself the song I was taught as a pre-schooler and grade school child. As I did this, my heart moved in a way that it seldom does--a way that moved not only my mind, but soul as well.

At this moment, I felt connected to all those that struggled, persevered and suffered in order for this "Last Frontier" to become habitable by someone like myself. I felt "lucky" that ME, an ungrateful "punk" was able to inhabit such a beautiful land of such un-spoiled grandeur as I do.

I pondered the reasons why in this instance, and dismissed them and absorbed the moment.

As I stood there, a grown man with tears streaming down his face in a driveway, gazing at the heavens, I realized my place in the universe and what it means to be me.

I am from this place, no matter where I go--whatever roads I travel or paths I choose to take...I will always be an "Alaskan" -- whatever that may mean.

I feel a certain pride--the kind that isn't expressed via bragging or put-downs-- to be witness to such a pure and unspoiled natural beauty that is my home.

For years as a youth I despised this place. I wanted nothing more than to "leave" and achieve bigger, better things.

In the end it seems, I am the product of my environment--my home. Catching 60-pound salmon and cutting our own Christmas trees, camping beside alpine ponds miles away from civilization...

Would I trade my life for another? 7 years ago I would have said "YES!" ... but today, I would have to say "never".

This land, this place that nourished and raised me--is my home. *cry*

SpiralArchitect

60lb salmon? Damn, I fish a lot and I have yet to catch one myself (using traditional pole/reel) larger than 35lbs. The largest salmon ever caught sport fishing was 97 pounds or so, like 130lbs for commercial I believe. A 60lb salmon would be a very rare occasion, commercial or sport fishing.

Alaska rules. I live in Juneau which is much smaller than where DaDornta lives, Anchorage, the big city, and I have lived in the tundra before as well. Nature rules. My house is on a lake and I can see a glacier from my house. The town is surrounded by mountains, you can't even drive out, I enjoy tons of snow, wildlife, living right on the ocean and everything else nature has to offer - including shitty weather, bugs, bears, and isolation to the brink of insanity. Alaska FTW.

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