Hello 2018...

Farewell 2017...

Feeling deflated with the post-trip blues

There's always a feeling of sadness when I return home after an extended trip. This week I've got the post-trip blues!

Travel Insurance Anyone?

Travel insurance anyone?
Anyone ever buy travel insurance? This will be my first time and I've secured a few quotes based on what I want to have covered, but wonder if anyone has a preferred provider?

Winter

Winter heaves its frigid breath across the landscape and all is still and oh so lovely.

The View from Here

Ah, my sweet little blog, I am sorry to have neglected you. These past months have been filled with many incredible, beautiful and surprising moments and I have been busy basking in the warmth of them all. My feet are now settling back down onto terraferma and I am ready to again fill your pages with stories and photos. Stay tuned as I catch up on stories from last year and move forward into the here and now!

One of my New Year Resolutions...

“Whoever created the world went to a lot of trouble. It would be downright rude not to go out and see as much of it as possible."  ~Readicker-Henderson~

"What is important..."

"What is important is not what hurts and pleases, but to see what is true. And then that truth will operate, not you." Krishnamurti

***

This powerful quote has been on my mind for the past months as I have come face to face with a disruption of my life stories I have long held onto. I believe in truth, and in not just telling the truth to others, but in being completely open and honest with myself. It seems to me that in truth lies freedom - freedom from shame, freedom from guilt, freedom from regrets - freedom from the negative messages that we cling to that serve no purpose but to hold us back from our own joy. 

Here's to a New Year of letting go of the baggage that weighs us down, and to embracing the beauty that is our authenticity!

Change is in the Air

It is autumn in Alaska, and as a light dusting of snow creeps slowly down the hillside, the air is cooling and mornings bring a beautiful display of frost coating the lawn. A few bright flowers remain, clinging to life, and I am touched by their fragility and their strength.

As the natural world around me shifts and transitions between seasons, so does my internal world bend and twist, lean and circle, weave and contort. Many personal changes are afoot, with doors opening and closing and a breathtaking expanse of new vistas visible on the horizon. As this beautiful, new path is being laid out before me, I am eager to walk forward with an open heart of gratitude and wonder, but instead find myself struggling to let go of threads that bind me to old patterns and thoughts. In the midst of an opportunity for incredible possibility and promise, I am overwhelmed with fear and struggling to find the courage to embrace it all. Still, I am fully awake and committed to moving forward, even if it just one teeny, tiny baby step one day at a time...

Birthday Bash

Thanks to all who came out to help me celebrate!!!!

In the midst of the fun, I looked around the room and realized yet again, how incredibly blessed I am to have such wonderful friends in my life...

45 or Bust - The View from the Top of the Hill!!!

Ah, made it!
And this is definitely one of my mantra's for the coming year...

45 or Bust - Nearing the Top of the Hill...

Today's thought...

45 or Bust - Hmmm

45 or Bust - Today's Musing

45 or Bust - Here I Come!

What I'm pondering today as I count down to the big day...

Goodbye Nome

From walking around town and strolling the beaches for glass, to the scenic drives, spotting reindeer and hearing and seeing the endless flocks of Sandill Cranes, to vibrant autumn colors and the mixture of fantastic sunny days and evenings of intense thunderstorms and hours of pouring rain, to great food, viewing all manner of gold mining and house and building architecture, to watching barges and large ships come and go, to meeting old friends and making new ones, to helping our energy program clients and assisting with Taz's photography class, to the fish camps dotting the shoreline and to our days in the villages of Unalakleet and Shaktoolik with their subsistence lifestyle of culture of sharing - our time in Nome and the Bering Strait communities will remain etched on my heart for a long, long time to come, as the people and the landscape once again captured my heart.

45 or Bust - Looking Forward

Today's reflection...

also known as...

45 or Bust - Today's Thought

Photography Class Fieldtrip - Trains, Chains and Automobiles

Taz is teaching a four-day photography class in Nome, through the University campus. 

I joined the class of for their day of shooting in the field, our numerous vehicles convoying out the eastern road towards the community of Council. 

Our first stop was at the Train to Nowhere site, where the old trains and equipment sat resolutely amidst the fall tundra and yellowing grasses.

Our other stop was at the Solomon B&B area, where abandoned cars and houses afforded a lot of creativity!