{and so we begin...}

With Christmas and New Years behind us and all the busy running and list makig done, comes the inevitable calm of a long dark winter. As a little girl in the North Woods I was once reminded how special of a breed of people we were to endure the cold, the darkness and the fraility that came with winters up North. But all I could see around me was the dramatic wave of creation that was happening beneath that heavy blanket of snow. I remember sneaking out at night, late at night and early in the morning to watch beautiful streams of magnificent color pop and wave above me in the Aurora Borealis. That is when I began dreaming of how wonderful it would be to live my life in the Milky Way, surrounded by billions and billions of stars and their planets. What the world didn't offer me underfoot the heavens did above my head. I was fascinated by stars and astronomy. I was fortunate enough to take an intermediate course at the University of Minnesota Duluth as  a freshman in astronomy. Here I had to write papers about these galaxies and their makeup. My life swelled and blossomed under the light of so many nightly star gazes. Dreams spoken out into the infinity of space, wrapped in the knowledge that they would come back to me as a wish come true. Today, I am witnessing those dreams coming back to me. So long ago as a young girl eager to spread her wings and find freedom.

This new year is one of hopeful discovery, challenging vistas, and miraculous truths, truths which I long to seek and look square in the eyes. Truths that hold stories of further develoment and transformation. So looking forward to life!

Emme