Webster’s dictionary defines exhilaration as a gladdening or enlivening; the act of enlivening the spirits; the act of making glad or cheerful.  It is the state of being enlivened or cheerful. 

One of the facts of life in the Aleutians is that the weather is never boring.  In fact, it is somewhat… exhilarating.  One of the values of the Unangas is that you should never say anything bad about the weather.  And so we don’t; or, at least if we do, we immediately note that we have inadvertantly done so.

The Aleutians are known as the birthplace of the winds; the cradle of the storms.  It is rarely ever still.  There is always a breeze wafting around, even on our calmest days, and a calm day is any day when the wind is below fifteen to twenty miles per hour. 

I often find myself in awe of our weather, either because of the wildness, the force, the absolute beauty, or the serenity.  I am contantly exhilarated.