I almost hate to admit this, but I rarely listen to or understand song lyrics. I have always known that this Horse Feathers song was a beautiful ode to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, but I never understood the extent until I looked up the lyrics tonight. While I adore the Pacific Northwest, this song beautifully describes the reasons I had to leave - at least temporarily. However, it also reminds me that, despite the endless hope for summer, we Pacific Northwesterners manifest sunshine in everything we do, and then our joy is the essence of summer when it finally comes. Thinking of you, PNW, this winter. 

Better Company, Horse Feathers 

The Columbia to the Puget Sound,
From the peak of Hood right to the ground,
Not and inch was dry, and every month’s the same,
Winter rains are coming to drown the coastal range,
From Manzanita on towards Young’s Bay,
The clouds are rolling in heavier each day.

Here it’s hard to be better company,
Where the hope or the sign of summer clouds your mind,
From October through July it’s the way it is.

Stretching county wide and clear up I-5,
All the towns are empty, everyone’s inside,
Not an inch was dry, and every month’s the same,
Winter rains are coming to drown the coastal range,

Here it’s hard to be better company,
Where the hope or the sign of summer clouds your mind.

It’s known to the born and raised,
Up the Gorge aways,
There’s a shadow, that hides the sane,
In that shadow due east,
It’s sparer on the plain,
Where the hope or the sign of summer clouds your mind.

You see here it’s hard to be better company,
From October through July it’s the way it is.

Camp by canoe

Hang a hammock

Plant a garden. Work in the garden. Harvest and eat your own food. I haven’t been able to help out on the farm this semester and I am noticing the difference - both in my mental and physical health. 

Celebrate the things you love with the people you love. I do this every year on Valentine’s Day, celebrating the day that Oregon became a state in 1859. 

Porch time.

Play in the snow. 

Headed home for the holidays and I can’t wait!!!

Take pictures of the ordinary.

Inspired by my lack of free time, I’ve decided to compile a visual list of the things I’d like to do when I have a moment, so I’ll remember what to do when that moment comes.