Welcome to Litsy!

This was taken at noon. The sun isn't getting very high these days. Alaska winter and short days are coming. There was already a dusting of snow in Anchorage.

The only hikes I ever do are day hikes which end with a hot shower, but I love compelling stories of outback adventures, and this book did not disappoint. Traveling 4,000 miles on foot, by canoe, on skis, and in a raft… the author and her husband travel across the Pacific coast and Arctic lands and sea. It‘s a beautiful story of stunning vistas, natural dangers, birds, bears, caribou, and her experience of sharing the journey with her husband.

I can have goosebumps mid Indiana summer and opt to be warmer no matter what and yet their journey, Caroline's words, their drive, organization, and acknowledged euphoria of the Arctic wild almost makes me want to ditch civilization life and at least visit Alaska (something I'd never have considered before). At its core, this is a love letter to nature.

#ChristmasQuotes #sledding

I figured a book on a couple‘s wilderness journey to the Alaskan Arctic would have to have a sledding quote or two.

I “borrowed” the 🦦 🛷❄️🏔 photo from Terry & Kay Steele Wildlife Photography.

Finished this quilted wall-hanging while listening to (and enjoying!) the tagged audiobook (an Alaskan adventure memoir). The blocks had been on my design wall waiting for finishing touches since last August. If you‘re interested in seeing close-up photos of my quilt, you can see them on Instagram. My IG name is sentient.stitches

#SoaringScores
I love books about people who trek & go adventuring & checked this one out from the library as it starts in Washington & the Pacific Northwest which used to be my #Homeland before I moved to Oahu in 2001.😉

As humid as our weather has been for going on months now, a few chapters seemed perfect to accompany my Creamy Tomato Soup & Toast with Tomato Butter. 😋I can dream of cold places. Link to soup & tomato butter recipes 👇🏻

I absolutely LOVE books like this. They let me adventure with the writer without the mosquitos, dirt, hunger, cold, and bears. 😂 Meanwhile I also got educated on ecology, birds, climate change, and survival. Fantastic read.

Next up! I‘m loving my new reading spots at the new house. Everything is unpacked, sorted, art on the walls, settled, and I can enjoy my Bookcation. 📚☕️🙌🏼

I‘m heading out to the wilderness for four days alone for a solo backpacking trip and I download “The Sun is a Compass” for my Kindle. Looking foreword to hammock evenings with a good book and reconnecting with nature.

Adding another square to my #nonfiction2019 bingo card. The tagged book featured many animal encounters: bears, caribou, whales, and lots and lots of birds since the author is an ornithologist!

A fascinating tale of van Hemert and her husband Pat's 4000 mile trek from Bellingham, WA to the Arctic circle, rowing skiing and hiking. The drive and planning that went into arranging this kind of expedition were just as interesting to me as the trip itself. Van Hemert's musings about what she wants to do when she got back to relative civilization got a touch repetitive but overall a very engaging and thoughtful memoir.