Life is a Journey

Sneak preview: Life is a journey, not a destination

I almost titled this post "How I Spent (the end of) My Summer Vacation," but as I don't exactly take summer vacations...

Except this year I did. Well, you might call it a working vacation, if one can take a vacation during a sabbatical. I have spent the last month in Tok, Alaska, taking care of my 6 year old niece while my sister was away. For those who aren't in the know, my sister is Aliza Sherman Risdahl, social media and tech diva, and she travels quite a bit for work. September was a busy month for her so she called in the big guns to help out at home. That would be me. 

So, every morning I wake up my niece, make her breakfast and lunch, and get her to the bus stop on time. When she comes home from school, I sweep her off to her Native beading class, then return home to prepare dinner. After dinner, I make sure her homework is done, entertain her (or at least I find myself entertaining), then make sure she gets to bed on time.

I now can add child rearing to my list of life lessons. I've also learned how to drive an ATV, cook wild game (sheep burgers! moose stir fry!), clean moose hide, and I'm honing my knitting skills. If I were a Girl Scout, I'd give myself a badge. My actual reward was a week off from all of my busy-ness to explore Alaska. 

Me on the four-wheeler. ©leahsherman

Tok, Alaska, Sled Dog AND Social Media Capital of the World. ©leahsherman

Waiting for the school bus with the 6 year old. ©leahsherman

Me and moose hide (not for the faint of heart). ©leahsherman

Alaska, the beautiful. ©leahsherman

Matanuska Glacier. ©leahsherman

Close up of glacier. ©leahsherman

I have a zillion more photos of my Alaskan adventure week, a handful of which you can find on my Holistica Healthcare Facebook page. It's nearly impossible to take a bad landscape of Alaska, the state is so gorgeous, the lighting is near perfection. 

In addition to my day-to-day work, I've been designing pin-able photo quotes for a few of Aliza's clients. This has inspired me to create a few for Holistica and I've been tweeting, pinning, and posting as I come up with them. 

This is today's quote:

Fact: Sir William Osler, famed physician and brilliant diagnostician, is so reknowned for his aphorisms they are known as Oslerisms.

My "journey" as a super-Auntie ends next week and it's back to Portland and the urban farm for me. I miss my life back in Oregon, but my experiences here have enriched my life as a person and physician. I can't wait to return and resume my Alaska life lessons.

Here are the rest of the Holisti-quotes (working title) to date. Feel free to share them, just leave the little cow and credit in the bottom corner. And be sure to let me know what you think!

Was Voltaire a fan of naturopathic medicine?

Ain't that a fact!

This quote is one of my favorites.