Bucket lists are an interesting quandary, they are filled with expectations and dreams.  But, can anything live up to the a dream?

I watched  Fellowship of the Ring this weekend and am reminded about what happens when you step out your door.  You change, you grow, you hopefully become more and not less than you were.

Alaska was, could have been, amazing.  Beautiful locations, the turning of the seasons, visiting untouched lands filled with stories and legends.  Instead it was filled with moving, being moved, lack of quiet to sit and absorb what it was and could be.  And from this I learned that silence is a golden gift which I s precious.

To sit in the white room of listening in Fairbanks and be profoundly moved is what I will remember and take away.

The walk where Dragon met the mushroom fairies across from the forming lake where the world coalesced and magic happened.

The final night on the boat, standing on the deck for hours watching the stars as I have never seen them before all while the fish swam as if fireflies in the water.

The Doll Porpoises playing in the water at the bow of the boat dancing in joy to remind us of laughter and wonder, like children enjoying nothing more or less than life itself.

The irony of life creating moment after moment of cancellation till it became its own story of humour.

Dragon, now named Growler, having more adventures than the humans on the trip.

And, most importantly, the reminder that sometimes things don’t work out as planned, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t where you are supposed to be.

And finally, sometimes it isn’t always the magic that is important.  Sometimes it is just the life itself.