Alaska, art raffle, Friday Fill-In, etc...

There is something to be said for travel, whether for pleasure or business. It breaks you out of the everyday, the comfort zone, the stuff you think defines you. You come out into this big wide world and look around at other traveling souls, at service folks helping all of you along the way, and the people who are in the middle of their everyday definitions of themselves, the inhabitants of your destination spot. And suddenly the things you think define you are all shuffled up and thrown out the window.

Our trip up to Juneau was mostly business, a photo shoot. But we connected with so many people along the way that it felt like a very personal trip, too. I was amazed at how every look upwards brought a stunning view of beauty. And every look at eye level showed you how hard a life it is to live there, mostly depending on tourists for livelihood, at the mercy of the awesome Mother Nature all around you.

Just one of the stories about this is the avalanche that has currently shut down power to Juneau borough. The entire area we were in, the area where the cruise ships come to dock, where there are hotels, shops, eateries, etc. -- that entire area was running on generators. And the first ship of tourist season was arriving. The power company there was telling residents and businesses to expect at 500% increase in their bills from last cycle to this coming billing cycle. FIvE HunDrED PerCENt! I don't know about you, but if it were our family in the middle of that, we'd be hard pressed to come up with 500% more money to pay the next power bill.

And yet, I can completely understand the drawl of the beauty that could keep a person wanting to live right there at the foot of the mountain, right next to the waterfront. It is truly breathtaking and magical. I spent as many minutes as I could steal away, just staring out the window of our room, watching the waterfalls high up in the mountain here. If you sat quietly and watched closely, you could see the water moving down the mountain. It was spellbinding.

The other thing that shocked me a little -- though you would think common sense would tell me this -- is how physically demanding it must be to live here. We had one day of wind where the howling just blasted through the window. And when you walked outside, you could lean into the wind and never fall over.

Add to that the stories people shared about winters there, and just plain old wow. I can't imagine it.

Just across from our room was the view of this house, pictured here to the left. Do you see that stair case??

There is no road to that house. Just stairs. Down the hill one block to the next house. Down another block to the next houses. And then another down to the street. Three blocks of stairs! I can't imagine carrying wood, groceries, let alone moving furniture in and out of there. And in winter at say 20 degrees with snow falling? OMG.

I have no idea if a manager of a hotel or a business owner or a cafe waitress lives in that house. But every person I met seemed just as likely a candidate to live there, so I tried to be respectful at all time knowing that *someone* is hiking those stairs day in and day out!

Anyway, all that and more was part of shaking up the things I thought defined me. If anything, I just wish we'd have had a little more down time to do things like meander along the waterfront taking weird photos of the ravens, sketching the planes landing on the water in front of the Hangar, just people watching. It would have been helpful, I think, to just have that kind of time to integrate all I was seeing, questioning within myself, and pieces I would be taking with me back home.

I never seem to plan properly for this kind of thing, so now, back home, I find myself wondering from room to room, not quite here, not quite there. We'll see what comes of it the next few days.

Creative Spark for you: What did you bring away with you after your last travel adventure? Have you made art about how the experience changed you? Or about something you learned while away? Blog about it and let us know where to come read!!

Quick reviews

Just really quick-like, I have share food reviews! We had some really yummy meals while in Juneau. The Heritage Coffee Company makes great lattes, but they also have the most delicious mango gelato! You'll find gelato in several locations along the way there from the cruise ship dock up to Heritage cafe itself. But it is all Heritage made gelato! Mango flavor sells out quickly, so if you see it there, snag a cup!

And then the halibut at Hangar's was unlike any I've ever had before this! As one of our travel companions shared with us: if you think the "fresh" frozen stuff you get at your grocery is actually fresh, you're kidding yourself. Any of the halibut dishes from Hangar's are actually fresh -- as in not frozen first. Imagine that. It actually tasted different to me. Really yummy.

The last evening there we stumbled into Zephyr -- they seem to be new, not even a website of their own yet -- but here's an interview online with the owner. And WOWsers!! From the outside, it just looks like an older building really. But you walk in and the warmth of the place is upon you. The colors, the lighting, the people. Wonderful. Every person at our table bubbled over with how good their food was. For myself, I had hummos and pita appetizers that was perfection -- hummos like my step-gram used to make! And then for dinner I had pesto angel hair -- now get this -- with red potato and green beans. I know, it sounds odd. But it was really really good! Highly recommend Zephyr if you find yourself hungry in Juneau!

Art Raffle!
This past week there was an ebay auction from "Bloggers Helping Jeni" and unfortunately, I was so involved in the trip to Alaska that I didn't get to post about it here or let anyone on our mailing lists know that we had a Mother Henna Gift Basket and one of Hawk's Poppy prints up for auction there. Those have both closed now without being sold, but so I've asked Bella to send them back to me -- and I'm turning them into:

Art Raffle -- just for you -- for helping Jeni!!
So all funds raised in these endeavors are going to Jeni and her son to help as they face the reality of Jeni's terminal illness. You can read more about Bloggers Helping Jeni in Bella's blog here.

To enter this raffle:

1. Go to Bella's blog and scroll down the right side bar to find the PayPal Donation button.
   
   
2. Anyone donating $5 or more can then leave a comment here telling me you've done so -- make sure you tell me in your comment that you've donated -- any comment that is just a general response to me or about blog will not be considered an entry unless you specifically mention that you've contributed to the fund for Jeni and Jack!
   
   
3. Your name will be entered into the drawing -- to be held on Mother's Day, May 11.
   
   
4. Make sure you leave me enough contact info to get back to you for mailing address -- just leave me link to you blog or your email addy -- do not leave anything more personal, okay?
   
   
5. Two winners will be picked. One will get a gift box from Mother Henna (retail value $40) full of art pieces from the 1,000 Faces project. The other will get an 8x10 print, matted to 11x14 of Hawk's Poppy print (retail value $95)

And finally Friday Fill In!

Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are triple bergamot earl grey tea and honey!

Mother Nature often amazes me. I was stunned to see the mountains just jetting up right behind the city in Juneau. The size of the Ravens -- their grace and beauty. Never realized till that moment that there is actually a real difference between a crow and a Raven!

You can keep doing that forever, the dog is having her star moment. We met the most wonderful dog named Lucy when up in Juneau. Got some great snaps of her where she is just totally the star in that moment. Lovely spirit being!

Art, pondering, wonder, questioning, ideas, finding a way, mix it all together and voila! You have my life! ha!

If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow beets, calendula, cilantro, greens. In fact, I'm pondering the possibility of doing just that in pots on the deck this year. We'll see.

The body -- in all its glory, its wrinkles, lines, graying, lumps and bumps and all the hair that people so fastidiously wax away (forget about it!) -- the body is best au naturel.

And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to, oh I don't know. Maybe actually catching up with myself?
Tomorrow my plans include getting away from work and going to the theater to see Ironman!
And Sunday, I want to have the energy to really finally catch up on stuff -- like first of the month invoicing, getting the card scans done, etc. Would be nice to start Monday without feeling like I'm already behind the 8 ball :)

Miracles!!
k-