In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks ~ John Muir
Nature always wears the colors of the spirit ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nature is the art of God ~ Dante Alighieri
The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature ~ Joseph Campbell
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous ~ Aristotle
Pay attention to rainbows, and snowflakes, butterflies and the songs of birds, the crash of storm-driven waves and the mirror-surface of a quiet pond. Let the depths of nature become a part of your innermost being ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie
There is just something about being out in open country, about seeing the sun rise over a pond, that’s really beautiful ~ Carson Wentz
One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring come in ~ Henry David Thoreau
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring ~ George Santayana
Despite the forecast, live like its’ spring ~ Lilly Pulitzer
The air is like a butterfly ~ With frail blue wings ~ The happy earth looks at the sky ~ And sings ~ Joyce Kilmer (Spring)
Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush ~ Doug Larson
The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently ~ Gary Zukav
Spring is a season of the soul to regain its strength ~ Lailah Gifty Akita
I can still bring into my body the joy I felt at seeing the first trillium of spring, which seemed to be telling me, “Never give up hope, spring will come.” ~ Jessica Stern
Spring: a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be ~ Anonymous
Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment ~ Ellis Peters
In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move ~ Henry Rollins
Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party!’ ~ Robin Williams
Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come ~ Robert H. Schuller
In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful ~ Alice Walker
God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars ~ Martin Luther
Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit ~ Anton Chekhov
A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease ~ John Muir
God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools ~ John Muir
Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven ~ Rabindranath Tagore
I look out of this window and I think this is a cosmos, this is a huge creation, this is one small corner of it. The trees and birds and everything else and I’m part of it. I didn’t ask to be put here, I’ve been lucky in finding myself here ~ Morris West
Yesterday, I visited friends who recently adopted two kittens (Ivan and Yogi) from a local shelter. Their cat (Paco) has graciously accepted his two new energetic companions. They are all marvelous fun to watch and cuddle and we could not resist laughing at their antics. And of course, like all cats, they are marvelously photogenic.
A kitten is the delight of a household. All day long a comedy is played out by an incomparable actor ~ Champfleury
A kitten is in the animal world what a rosebud is in the garden ~ Robert Southey
Kittens are angels with whiskers ~ Alexis Flora Hope
The smallest feline is a masterpiece ~ Leonardo da Vinci
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this ~ Terry Pratchett
Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood ~ Andy Goldsworthy
The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? ~ J. B. Priestley
Winter is a season of recovery and preparation ~ Paul Theroux
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face ~ Victor Hugo
O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley
In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer ~ Albert Camus
The sub-title of this fabulous National Geographic book is “500 of the World’s Best Hidden Travel Gems.” The book does not disappoint ~ there are indeed numerous travel gems.
Magnificent photos will captivate the armchair traveler’s interest as well as information about the sites including when to go, how to find it, planning and websites. It is a treasure trove of places near and far, ranging from the “Frank” (Idaho) to the Wrangell-Kluane Wilderness (Alaska-Canada) to La Bagatelle (Paris) to Kerinci Seblat (Sumatra) to Galle Fort (Sri Lanka). Every continent is well represented.
On chilly, rainy days in the Pacific Northwest, this is a favorite book to browse. In addition to the photos and intriguing descriptions, there are marvelous off-beat “top 10” lists, including Odd Museums, Ghost Towns, Perfect Beaches, Ferry Journeys, Backwaters and Roman Sites.
In addition to looking at photos or reading about favorite places, it’s enjoyable to look at mementoes of your travels. Or asking friends about their mementoes – share your love of travel with others. Even if you currently cannot travel to a place you dream of, keep imagining.
Be an armchair traveler ~ learn about your favorite places: perhaps a language or cooking class, a history book or a good novel set in that county or city. You might well learn far more than tourists who travel but never become a traveler.
Most important, have fun and be creative as you “journey” to a favorite spot … even if for now, it is a dream.
Savor your journeys, near or far, real or imagined
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. Henry Miller
Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey. Pat Conroy
The journey not the arrival matters. T.S. Eliot
Perhaps we will by lucky and spring will come early. As weather in western WA is always unpredictable, clear days are treasured, no matter what time of year. On a clear day, majestic Mt Rainier is clearly visible from the harbor.
