Bryan and I sit next to each other on the plane and take turns peering through the window at the green lights that dim and then grow sharply along the horizon. We turn to each other and are handed one bourbon each from the flight attendant. We don’t talk for a while and then think about what type of omen this is. Or if this is the most impressive thing we will see. Bryan selects The Revenant as his in-flight film and I tell him that’s not a good idea. Because of the bears. (Day 1)
I can’t believe we never saw a bear. (Day 11)
The lunacy of that place was something I will never understand. When I was there I was saddened that I could not articulate my emotions or point to this element or that moment and understand it with precision. But to feel that sadness was incorrect, it is too lofty an expectation to understand this place, this thing wholly. So I have stopped trying to condense it. Some days I pick up these individual moments, individual happenings and try to strip out the intricately laced non-linear truths and emotions embedded. And each time I think back I unearth some other response, something I missed earlier. And I have thought back each day since I have left. (13 Days removed)