Farewell to Winter, March 2023 ~ Gig Harbor, WA ~ Photos ~ Quotes

In March, winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too ~ Jean Hersey

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold, when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade ~ Charles Dickens

By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers would begin to run and the world would wake into itself again ~ Neil Gaiman

Every cold and dark phase ends and hence begins a beautiful phase of warmth and vibrance. Don’t believe it? Just notice March ~ Anamika Mishra

I love March as it gives me hope that new beginnings are always beautiful ~ Anamika Mishra 

How terrible a time is the beginning of March. In a month there will be daffodils and the sudden blossoming of orchards, but you wouldn’t know it now. You have to take spring on blind faith ~ Beatriz Williams

Poulsbo, Washington ~ Winter 2023 ~ Photos ~ Quotes

Located on the Kitsap Peninsula, in western Washington, Poulsbo is known as “Little Norway.” It was founded in the 1880’s by Norwegian immigrants. Walk about the town, explore the many shops, art galleries, bakeries and attractions. Enjoy walking along the waterfront (where there is ample parking).

Favorite shops to explore include:

  • Liberty Bay Books ~ terrific local bookstore offering a very good selection of books, puzzles, cards, gifts, games and book clubs. Great place to browse.
  • Nordiska ~ beautiful shop to browse gifts, houseware and kitchen goods. Check out their book club.

You will find several good restaurants, including The Loft (on the water), Slippery Pig Brewery and marvelous Italian cuisine at Sogno di Vino.

Savor your journeys, near or far, real or imagined

Favorite quotes about books:

There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking ~ Haruki Murakami

Some books leave us free and some books make us free ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is no friend as loyal as a book ~ Ernest Hemingway

I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once ~ C.S. Lewis

Favorite Poem: Sea-Fever by John Masefield ~ Photos

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Christmas Quotes ~ Photos ~ December 2022

Wishing you and your family and friends a beautiful, joyous Christmas

May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve ~ Unknown

Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection ~ Winston Churchill

Christmas is the day that holds all time together ~ Alexander Smith

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly ~ Andy Rooney

The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood ~ Richard Paul Evans

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! ~ Charles Dickens

Beautiful Fall Day ~ Gig Harbor, WA ~ November 2022

I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring ~ Truman Capote

Autumn is springtime in reverse ~  Terri Guillemets

And the sunsets of Autumn ~ are they not gorgeous beyond description? More so than the brightest dreams of poetry? ~ Charles Lanman

Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go ~ Unknown

The coming and going of the seasons give us more than the springtimes, summers, autumns, and winters of our lives. It reflects the coming and going of the circumstances of our lives like the glassy surface of a pond that shows our faces radiant with joy or contorted with pain ~ Gary Zukav

The smell of pine needles, spruce and the smell of a Christmas tree – those to me, are the scents of the holidays ~ Blake Lively

More Favorite Cat Quotes ~ Photos ~ November 2022

Time spent with cats is never wasted ~ Sigmund Freud 

Like clever people, cats know instantly who likes or dislikes them ~ unlike people, they don’t care much ~ Anonymous 

When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I am with her ~ Michel De Montaigne

In order to keep check on your own importance, get a dog who will worship you and a cat who will ignore you ~ Anonymous 

The cat lives alone, has no need of neighbors, obeys only if it pleases her, feigns slumber so she can keep an eye on you, and shreds everything on which she lays a paw ~ Francois Chateaubriand 

Beware of people who dislike cats ~ Irish Proverb 

Bobber Forest Park, Gig Harbor, WA ~ Quotes

And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul ~ John Muir

Forests are like churches, hallowed places. There’s a stillness about them, a sort of reverence ~ Sabrina Elkins

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

The trees will tell their secrets to those that tune in ~ Steven Magee

Trees are always a relief, after people ~ David Mitchell

Every forest branch moves differently in the breeze, but as they sway they connect at the roots ~ Rumi