January in the Pacific Northwest, finds wild nature in a period of recovery and renewal. Nature’s flowering plants, grasses, and brush, will be blessed by the nurturing rains that fall with the new year. Mighty evergreens pause, and deciduous trees go dormant. Our vast forests are rejuvenated by this period of rest.
Streams have come to new life as the rains replenish their flow. Rainbow, Brook, German Brown, and Cutthroat Trout become active as waters rise and cool. Bear, deer, cougar, elk, coyote, big horn sheep, pronghorn antelope, hawk, osprey, eagle; the varied, plentiful wildlife of our region have begun their winter rituals.
Our winter’s January is a peaceful time of rest and restoration here in this breathtakingly beautiful region. A regenerative calm lies upon the lush land, as the season of sky-water has arrived to quench nature’s thirst, and revivify her energies in this utopia.
pure life-giving sky water
bless this land you love
DAY 10
What richness you describe – the beauty of the forests, and the abundance of life all rejuvenated by the season. I am reminded of our visit to Washington State last winter – how lush and soul-inspiring the landscape is.
I am pleased you enjoyed this VJ. I was born in the Midwest, but I would never go back. i have loved my 30 years in the PacNW.
I so envy you! You write with real passion about your home. I hope it stays wild and lush. Not a done deal these days.
Hi Jane! I am passionate about this part of the world, not only the natural wonders, but the culture and inclusiveness of the majority of people who live here – especially compared to the rest of this country. This is like an oasis of sanity?
I love the rejuvenating rain… if I’m close to nature… often I see it in the cityscape where it only shows the dirt even more…
Nature is better to handle all kind of weather.
When the land is beautiful, the world is beautiful Bjorn, no matter what the westher.
so love reading about your region through your eyes and the beauty of your words is breathtaking. the rains from Asia move to your area, we are having sunshine and dry winds here now. but i love the rain!
We are the other side of the Pacific rim. i love it here where I live, the nature and the human nature. This is by and large an oasis of sanity and inclusion in a country gone mad!
Your January sounds idyllic, Rob. I like to think of nature in period of recovery and renewal, being blessed by rain, especially the forests’ rejuvenation. And you write of such a wide variety of wildlife, most of which we just don’t have here. The thought of it all just blows my mind!
It is beautiful here Kim, and we are a population, the majority of which are sane, inteligent and inclusive. I consider the PacNW a different country from the rest of the USA. I have divorced myself in everyway I possibly can from the hate and madness from that land beyond the eastern borders Montana and Colorado. I wish the PacNW and Northern California would secede from the USA. i truly would support it, unless this country flushes the evil out of Washington DC.
I like this idea of rejuvenation in January: “Our vast forests are rejuvenated by this period of rest.”
Thank you Frank, glad you liked it.
A lovely haibun full of descriptions of trees and animals. The wild nature is always so true. Your haiku shows your love of the Pacific northwest.
Thank you Toni, very glad you liked this. It is from my heart!
For the record, I think, Rob is describing western Oregon,. but hey the crows and eagles can’t tell the difference. It makes me proud to live in WA state, just up the road from Rob.
The PacNW and NorCal make up a very special part of this country Glenn, as you know. By and large sane and inclusive, when compared to the rest!
My daughter lives in the Willamette valley. You’ve described the Pacific NW well…and the winter rains that contribute to the amazing richness of crops and wildlife.
Wonderful Beverly, I hope she loves it as much as I do. The agricultural eden that is the Willamette Valley will always be for me – a miracle. 11,478 square miles of fertile, volcanic soil, bounded by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. The valley is about 180 miles long and 100 miles wide, with the Willamette River system, and its tributaries, a network of life-giving water running the entire length. It is the reason the pioneers flocked to there, createing the Oregon Trail. And this little eden is surrounded by the most naturally beautiful state in the union, the mostly wilderness glory of Oregon.
I would love to be there and witness nature’s wild blossoming and calm in their winter rituals. This is really that time for recovery and renewal.
If you ever get the chance to see the PacNW, do it Grace! You will not regret it. Begin your visit with a trip down the amazing Oregon Coast, followed by exploring the extensive Puget Sound region of Washington. You will see only a tiny tiny glimpse of this region, but you eill find it enchanting. Then you have to come back and visit the Cascade Mountsins, the Columbia River Basin, the Oregon high desert. I realize now, you will need to move here and spend years exploring… 🙂
Nature (and people) need rest – we should learn from her, but many never do! The photo is gorgeous as well.
Yes Margaret, you are quite correct. Thank you! 🙂
Nice post! The refreshing rains are a welcome blessing. This year in the south east we feel like we live in Washington! It has been wet!
Thanks Dwight. Remember, rain is nature’s way of blessing you! 🙂
What a lush and lovely haibun, Rob! I love how the “season of sky-water” revives everything.
What’s interesting is. If I am in another part of our country, and it’s raining – I’m bloody annoyed. But here, if it’s raining, and I am surrounded by all this powerful natural beauty, I feel like I am privileged to be blessed by the waters. You can just feel the natural world around you being nurtured, thriving, growing. It’s rather remarkable Lynn… 🙂
I especially love the last line of your prose. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit, Rob. This is an area of the U.S. I have not ventured into…yet.
Glad you liked this piece Mish! This is a place the description of which, fails with words. It is truly breathtaking… 🙂
You make me nostalgic for those eight years I spent in Oregon. Such perfect description of beauty.
It must have been something pretty remarkable to pull you out of Oregon Sara, once you are here. Took me 42 years to get to the PacNW, but in the 30 years I have lived here, the roots of my heart are fastened deep! 🙂
Another PacNorWester here – the beauty of this land goes deep and sinks into us, and I think we all experience a sigh of relief when the rains arrive in the Fall. I know I get nervous if we have a dry winter, if the snow packs don’t seem to be building. Thank you for capturing the cycles here, and how dependent we are – and how lucky we are – on the rains.
Definitely Nora! Every year we track the pack hoping its deep and dense. The other important source of life giving waters for this beautiful eden.