Nestled in suburban homes or tucked inside high-rise office buildings, we tend to ignore the immensity of nature. Occasionally, we even have the nerve to think we can control it.

Until we visit a place like Anchorage, a city placed, rather precariously, between the Pacific Ocean and the rugged, snowcapped peaks of the Chugah Mountains. It's as if Mother Nature granted this city permission to exist, as long as it behaves.