Two things happened last month that felt like a jolt of sunshine straight to the soul.
First: my never-a-dull-moment of a sister (who is also a WAC member!) came to Alaska, after us not seeing anyone from my family for well over a year. And second: our impromptu opportunity to leave Homer with her for a spell and — through her eyes — see even more of Alaska.
And when I say see, I don’t mean it lightly because my sister is a true eagle-eye. Her oculars seem to operate like a pair of detail-sensing lasers. Case in point: along our journey, she spotted a whale from a parking lot in Seward, at least five moose camo-cruising through hillsides, and not one, but two black bears in and around Cooper Landing, where locals swear they never see bears.
She also — through another savviness of hers: self-taught bird calling — “landed” (her word) a sandhill crane that was air-gliding mid-flight over our cabin. The bird descended and indeed stopped right in front of the house after she made “the call” from our porch. But of all her senses, it’s my sister’s nose that truly deserves mention. She not only picked up on the very specific balsam-like aroma of alderwood just about to bloom, but in fact became obsessed with the scent, almost to the point of a self-induced allergy attack from so much deep sniffing.
With my sis, I re-witnessed and re-loved details of this place that I knew she'd also adore: like the unnamable color of the sky at around 1 am; or the band of hazy white that seems to appear at the base of the glacial mountains in Anchor Point; or the umami-scented steam that rolls off a chowder.
Because the prospect of travel in our family has always been the king of shared experience, and having the chance to taste the newness of each day with my sib by my side was just what I said before — a jolt of sunshine straight to the soul. The truth is that when I’m on the road with any of my relatives, it instantly feels like the universe has locked into place, as we have always thrived on the wonder of going places and seeing things — and especially so together.
Live wild...and create/nurture shared experiences!
Monica
Pictured Above: A lovely photograph taken somewhere over Alaska by my lovely sister on her way back home — reminding me that it can always be both inspiring and refreshing to enjoy someone else’s perspective.
