There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
Robert W. Service
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Oh My.. Oh My..
In the Autumn of 1952, my High School English Teacher, Mrs. Joyce Cowan assigned as homework, the reading The Cremation of Sam McGee. She gave us copies of the poem.
I have to be honest, in general, all of the boys did NOT like Mrs. Cowan because she took her English Class very seriously.
After her class was over, I went to my 10am Hall Patrol Post, on the second floor, on the North side of the High School and began to read the above Robert Service poem.
IF only I could go back in time to 1952, I would go up to Mrs. Cowan and thank her for changing my life forever.
On the spot, as I began to read the above poem, I became addicted to reading Robert Service Poems and I wanted to go some day up to the Canadian Yukon Territory and visit Dawson City where Robert Service lived and wrote his poetry during the early years of his life.
Just in case you are interested, below is a Wikipedia link about him.
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NORTHERN LIGHTS..
We are getting a lot of Northern Lights activity, not only up here in Alaska, but also in the lower 48 states as well!
Tim, in all of my years living in Alaska, never ever one time have I been able to successfully photograph the Northern Lights.
How about you Gullible?
By The Way, in the poem my name "Cap" is mentioned.
"He turned to me, and Cap says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."
Cap, Patti and Tim McBride
