Orcas are so beautiful, painted with a meticulous hand, glowing velvety black right next to precise white, a yin yang kind of thing. One time I had joined an excursion boat on an all day jaunt to Tracy Arm, a fjord south of Juneau.

On the way back we were joined by a pod of orca, five or six of them. We slowed our speed and they stayed with us. The male (much taller dorsal fin) from time to time went under us and popped up on the other side as we all traveled along. They were having a good time, and so did we.

Another time I went to Tracy Arm and saw something totally different. As we idled there on the water in front of South Sawyer Glacier, our engines cut, I suddenly saw a face in the glacier wall. A giant brooding Indian face, complete with parka and wolf ruff. It was astonishing.

My camera batteries had died so I got a friend to take its picture. She did, somewhat blindly, because she didn't see the face. After the photo was developed she was amazed at the picture.

I went back about two weeks later to see if the face was still there. It wasn't, of course. Glaciers calve around the clock so nothing is static.

Later I went back into the excursion company and asked if anyone had reported a face in the Glacier. The woman said, Oh, yes- you mean the Santa Claus?

Humph.