Here am I, on one of the 1,100 islands in the Alexander Archipelago, in a temperate rainforest (a very rare phenomenon on Earth), in a blessed place called Sitka. I love the Alaska Airlines with their adventurous pilots and the smiling Native face on every tail wing; I love Sitkans, with their low-key, hip, musical ways; I love the sound of the raven, whose cries vary from the sound of wind singing through a pipe to the sound of plunks and echoes in deep water, and I love the clean, pure air and the sound of the ocean. Here I have been singing on stage ("Dee and the Raindawgs"), writing and performing poetry at slams, dancing - at costume balls, contras, disco nights, rock and roll - and taking choppy cruises on the ocean. I have been captured by enchantment. I'm having the best time of my life!

(The place of my first touchdown in Sitka - the Airport from 3,000 feet)