One year ago today I left everything I had ever known to venture to a remote place called Alaska. Just twelve months. Just three hundred and sixty five days. I said farewell to a life I had known so habitually well in the small towns and backroads of rural Illinois. Never did I imagine I would find a whimsical fairytale sewn through the winter snow paths. But it has been one full year I've spent with a man who in his own sense has become my epitome of a prince charming. So today we merrily drink dandelion wine that I brewed four months prior. We kiss and we hug and we rejoice for the beautiful blessing of love. When I left Illinois a heartbroken lost soul, I never thought I would find healing and contentment in a place so far removed from my wonderland. Yet through the bitter cold, the blizzard days, and the amazing inspiration of Yup'ik Eskimos I have found a home a part of my heart knows it can never leave. For I may step off my beaten path, take journeys and trips, but I know within me that life will always lead me back here. Back to my darling, back to my willows, alders, and Yukon River. Back to home. It's amazing how one year can impact the entire astrological being of one life.
