Put on Your Goggles!

          Its official winter is now here, and unfortunately it is to stay, in the great city of Anchorage, Alaska. I’m not a big fan of snow, so in my free time my mind often wonders to some place warm enough to not wear my oversized coat. So today I challenge all of my faithful readers, to imagine yourselves lounging around a beautiful beach in the early breaths of spring, wearing your favorite pair of sunglasses… two thousand years ago! Yes! Two thousand years ago. Because it was then, that the ancient Thule Inupiaqs invented the first prototypes for modern day sun glasses – snow goggles.  The Inupiaq people learned to survive in one of the harshest environments in the world, with the aid of two things – an active knowledge of the land and creativity. Earlier this year I wrote an academic paper, and the thesis was based upon, how necessity leads to creativity, and the invention of snow goggles serves as a prime example of this phenomenon. 

          In my next blog I will delve deeper into the significance of this small object that carries great significance that can draw the line in the sand, separating life from death… in the form of a short story, written by myself.

Farewell
(at least until tomorrow)

- Josey