...and starlight in your hair" - Ella Fitzgerald
I have big news: Wild Elegance is heading to the Gulf Coast and setting up shop in the Mobile Bay area.
Hold on. Don't panic. I should explain. We will still be in Wisconsin, but Alabama will also be home for wedding photography.
You see, I have this thing, called Raynauds. It started when I was a teenager and gets progressively more aggressive every year. Long story short, cold makes my hands - and now my feet - lose circulation. I can wear mittens and use my re-chargeable handwarmers all I want, but at this point, nothing really helps. There are medications I could take, but I am trying to avoid that a little longer.
Never heard of Raynauds? Here is a great explanation from Mayo Clinic.
So why Alabama?
Partially, I blame my parents and growing up on the likes of The Band, Lynard Skynard, and The Allmann Brothers. Southern Rock is one of my favorite types of music to listen to, especially on my rambling road trips. Makes sense to go straight to the source, right?
Also, as a former English teacher, one of my favorite genres is Southern Gothic literature. The only genre that can beat it, in my opinion, is Dystopian, but that is because Ray Bradbury is everything. From Faulkner to O'Connor, all of those moody, dark stories of hidden skeletons (literally at times) and rife tension always inspired my creative soul.
Now, I know Alabama isn't all rock and roll and gothic lore.
But it is beautiful. It is different from Wisconsin.
While Wisconsin will always hold my roots, most of you know my soul craves distance and space and freedom. Alabama represents a new adventure and a fun place to eventually move to when Charlie is done with high school.
I always thought I would roll back out to Colorado with its expansive open spaces, mountains, and diverse natural backgrounds, it has always been my heart home. Since losing Tyson, though, returning there is bittersweet. It was always supposed to be Tyson and I in the mountains, and now that he is gone, it just isn't the same.
On to new adventures in a wonderful new place, while holding on to my Midwest home and keeping the place where Tyson and I explored our hearts sacred.
...and now to choose allegiance to the Crimson Tide or become a Rebel. I hear there is no middle ground.
