WISE WORDS...

If I had the power to turn back the clock,

Go back to the house at the end of the block,

The house that was home when I was a kid,

I know that I'd love it more than I did.

If I could be back there at my mother's knee,

And hear once again all the things she told me,

I'd listen as I never listened before,

For she knew so well just what life had in store.

And all the advice my dad used to give,

His voice I'll remember as long as I live,

But it didn't seem really important then.

What I'd give just to live all over again.

And what I'd give for the chance I once had,

To do so much more for my mother and dad,

To give them more joy and a little less pain,

A little more sunshine, a little less rain.

But the years roll on and we cannot go back,

Whether we were born in a mansion or in a shack.

But we can start right now in the hour that's here,

To do something more for the ones we hold dear.

And since time in its flight is traveling fast, 

Let's not spend it regretting that which is past,

But let's make tomorrow a happier day

By doing our "good to others" today.

~Author Unknown~

THE IGLOO HOUSE

Every now and again I will be sharing photos we took on our Alaska trip back in May.  We saw a lot of interesting sights that intrigued me and I am sharing one of those today, The Igloo House, a four-story concrete structure built in the 1970's. 

It was pointed out to us on the tour bus as we were making our way from Seward to Alkeetna, on the George Parks Highway.  It is so large it can be seen by airplanes at 30,000 feet.  The igloo-shaped building was going to be a hotel, a premier Alaskan-style accommodation but it was never finished.  They ran into all kinds of building code violations, and it has sat abandoned for nearly half a century.  

The interior was never finished either, was once padlocked but no longer is as it was impossible to keep the curious from wandering in to explore. It passed through several owners but none of them were able to get it back to par.  How strange it is now a tourist attraction, as no guests have ever stayed there.  You can see more here. It also shows what it looks like inside.

You will find it 200 miles out of Anchorage, at the halfway point between Fairbanks and Anchorage (Alaska's two largest cities) on the south side of the Parks Highway at mile 214.5.