It's here again! A monthly photo share featuring some of my favorites on a specific project or theme. While I spend an epic amount of time talking about the huge place food holds in my life, I only occasionally talk about the other aspects of my life that are just as important (or at least very close!).
In moving to Oregon last summer, one of the things I was most excited about was an opportunity to spend some time exploring a new region of the country in a deep way. In the kind of way one can only experience by living in a place, instead of passing through. Weekend getaways and spots held dear as local favorites. In Oregon, the piece of that puzzle I was most moved to explore was the vast natural world. From Portland one can drive two hours or less and find themselves surrounded by a vast array of ecosystems - rainforests to high dessert, coastal tidepools and beaches to snowy mountain lakes and villages.
Spending time in natural spaces like these, which can be both grandiose and quietly beautiful, is my number one way to re-boot. The connection to land, water, and fresh air that comes while immersing oneself in wild spaces creates space in one's mind to appreciate a world that is so much bigger than oneself. The epic winds blowing the sands in this dune environment were too strong to ignore, for the natural world can be both gently peaceful and mightily powerful.
So today, I share with you these images of Oregon's coastal beauty and power, mossy peaceful rainforests where green prevails year-round, and snowy mountain worlds where one can travel to winter in a short amount of time. I hope that you too will find a renewed sense of energy to get outside, breathe deep the fresh air, and see what you might stand to learn from a little time connecting with our beautiful earth.
