A filmmaker friend just sent me this Vimeo film about Roman Dial. Dial worked in the Brooks Range for almost half a century; I did research there one summer, and my son was there doing research another summer.

It’s a film about a very tangible and visible effect of a warming planet. It’s also a film about Alaska, and about being a father to a son, and the joy of introducing our kids and our students to wild places.

And it’s also about the very real dangers that come with those places, which is something I’ve often thought about when, after bringing him along with me on my work in Alaska and Central America, my own son went off on adventures of his own—many of them far greater than mine!

There’s pride in knowing he’s off climbing a hard summit, or rafting down a distant river, or helping a medical team in Ghana. And there’s also the fear that something might happen to him while he’s doing the thing he loves and that I encouraged him to do.

Anyway, watch it if this interests you, and take a deep breath before you dive in, because there’s a tragic turn that has my heart aching. There’s also some beautiful scenery, and a beautiful story of a teacher and father, and his son and his students.