Working for a Living

Ah ha, a dream has come true.  I'm working while traveling.  Thanks Homer Tribune!!!

We Love Nome

While we're mostly working, we're trying to find time in each day to explore a bit and meet locals.  We're struck by the difference in daylight hours between Homer and Nome.  In Homer, with a latitude of 59, the sun is currently rising around 9am and the sun is setting around 5pm; whereas in Nome, the latitude is 64 and the sun is rising at 11am and setting closer to 7pm. 

Nome or Bust

Nome, Alaska is well-known for its gold mining history and for being the finish line for the famous Iditarod sled dog race.

Taz and I will be in Nome for one week, presenting on the efficiency program we run, where we provide small businesses energy audits and grant application assistance for funding to help implement audit-recommended upgrades. This is our third grant opportunity and our first outside of the Kenai Peninsula.  With this most recent grant, we can service the entire Bering Straits region, including Nome and 17 surrounding villages.

As our plane descends, we are struck by the open water. It is late January and temperatures should be well below freezing, but we chat with locals on the plane and hear that for the past few weeks, temperatures have hovered in the mid 50's...

Nome Bound

Magnet I got in Nome when we visited in 2010

Flight Delays

Nome, home of the end of the Iditarod Trail

Meeting Iditarod artist John Van Zyle

Boarding

Inspiration

The View from Here, With Chaffing Thighs

In addition to spending more time in New York City, one of my other journeys this year has been trudging up the sloping hills, through the thorny valleys, across rugged peaks, in to shadowed forests and along dismal swamps of the land called Menopause.

Last month, I spent the day feeling 'off', like something was amiss as I walked through the house and around the neighborhood, going about my day.  It wasn't until the end of the day that I realized what I was experiencing: it was the feeling of my thighs rubbing together, causing a burning sensation new to my formerly slim legs.

Just last month, I spent the day feeling 'off', like something was amiss as I walked through the house and around the neighborhood, going about my day.  I was experiencing an odd burning sensation in my legs and I couldn't figure out what was happening. It wasn't until the end of the day as I prepared for bed that I looked in the mirror and saw that my thighs were pink.  It was then that I realized what I had been experiencing all day was the feeling of my thighs rubbing together as I walked, a first for my formerly thin thighs.

Menopause has brought many things in to my life, including weight gain, bloating, moodiness, low libido and an overwhelming feeling of middle age.  Last week, as I photographed a group of 18 year old girls at a birthday party, I found myself staring at their smooth skin, thin arms, taut stomachs and perky bosoms.  How have I reached post-menopause at 44 years of age?  Wasn't it just yesterday that I turned 30 and reveled in reaching a state of self awareness and confidence?  Now, 14 years later, I find myself relating to the "older" generation of women in my community.

This is not a transition I was emotionally prepared to embark on so soon.

Momz N Da Hood - Leaping in to Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMKB1D9lJHM

My friend Jamee and her Momz N Da Hood dancers...

Dreaming of New Adventures

"Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you have never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground." - Judith Thurman

What are you homesick and longing for this year?

The Making of a Love Affair

After much resistance, I have an iPhone.  I have to admit, I am really enjoying it...

I Will Not Die an Unlived Life

A Poem by Dawna Markova 

I will not die and unlived life.

I will not live in fear

Of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

To allow my living to pen me,

To make me less afraid,

More accessible,

To loosen my heart

Until it becomes a wing,

A torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

To live so that which comes to me as seed

Goes to the next as blossom

And that which comes to me as blossom,

Goes on as fruit.

A Year of Intentions, One Month at a Time

From Resources for happiness, love and wisdom by Rick Hanson, Ph.D. 

These are some of my intentions for the year.

Perhaps you'll find some nuggets here too...

1: Learning - Grow Inner Strengths

2: Mindfulness - Meditate

3: Love - Feed the Wolf of Love 

4: Resilience - Let Things Change

5: Contentment - Feel Already Full

6: Integrity - Be Benevolent

7: Self-Worth - Know You're A Good Person

8: Courage - Accept Difficulty

9: Social Intelligence - Receive Faces

10: Motivation - Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

11: Wisdom - Be Home

12: Peace - Enjoy Four Kinds of Peace

Leaping in to a New Year of Creativity!

I'm very excited to share that Taz and I are two of four local artists who have been selected to display work at the Homer Public Library this coming year.

I'll showcase images from my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage at the Library between April and June and Taz will exhibit his black and white landscapes from July through September.  Additionally, I'll share photographs and stories from my Camino during a slideshow presentation in early April and Taz will share his creative process during a talk he gives in July.
  
We both have numerous creative goals this year, so this is a wonderful start for us...