Our Great Northwest Highs!

My walking buddies gave an impromptu and very enthusiastic performance of my song last week during our hike on the Cushman Trail.

My latest newspaper column is a take-off on the song "My Favorite Things," the one that starts: "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ..." For the blog, I present my lyrics along with some of the thousands of photos that I've taken since I moved to the Northwest in 2008. Enjoy!

"Our Great Northwest Highs"

By Sherrie Spanger
Text and photos
Copyright 2010

Rainbows on cedars and moon light on harbors

Pale pink and red roses climbing on arbors

Lavender clouds streaked in tangerine skies

These are a few of our great Northwest highs.

 

Summer sunset in Gig Harbor.



Ferries and fog horns and funky beach houses
Eagles and otters and seagulls surround us

Snow-capped Olympics with clouds sliding by

These are a few of our great Northwest highs.

Julia relaxes on the ferry to Seattle.




"Snow-capped Olympics with clouds sliding by ..."



Rhodies and garden slugs, big fat hydrangeas

Moss-shingled roof tops, wet ferns and bright zinnias

Kayaks and sailboats and birds flying by

These are some more of our great Northwest highs.



"Big fat hydrangeas" from Nancy's garden.




Keith kayaks here two years ago on the winter solstice. It was only late afternoon, but look at how dark it was.



(Refrain 1)

In the dark days

When the rain falls

When the sky's not blue

I slosh into Starbucks, pull out my gold card

And order my favorite brew!



Bridge between Gig Harbor and Tacoma.




This was actually somewhere in Wyoming as I was moving out here from the Midwest. I stopped at every Starbucks that I could see from the highway.



The original Starbucks in Pike's Place in Seattle -- always a crowd.



Our wonderful neighbors named Dick and Rosemary

New friends and warm hugs and fresh Rainier cherries

Apples and blueberries piled into pies

These are a few of our Gig Harbor highs.

"Our wonderful neighbors named Dick ...





... and Rosemary"

Fresh local fruit fills pies all summer and fall.

Street fairs and Halloween down in the harbor

Beatniks at Skansie, but Elvis was wilder

Strolling on Cushman as summer air sighs

These are some more of our Gig Harbor highs.

Beautiful Gig Harbor.



Dungeness crab cakes, grilled salmon, clam chowder
Ice cream at Kelly's as evenings turn milder

Mussels and geoducks down on the beach

These are some delicious Gig Harbor treats.

Salmon rules in the Northwest.

(Refrain 2)

In the dark months

Wrapped in gray skies

When it spits all day

I simply remember our Gig Harbor highs

And then I will be OK!

Walking in the rain at Chambers Bay.

Sea stars, anemones, barnacles, crabs

Kopachuck Beach in the summer is fabs

Rich intertidal life, herons, blue skies

These are a few of our great Northwest highs.

Sea star on a Gig Harbor beach.



"Kopachuck Beach in the summer is fabs ..."





More fun on Kopachuck Beach during a low-tide walk with Harbor WildWatch.

 

Mastering roundabouts -- not always easy

Training for Turkey Trot, getting quite wheezy

Herons hunched over, high-pitched eagle cries

These are a few of our Gig Harbor highs.

I found this scene right below our house.

I don't care for rain but I do like the rainbows

Don't like the gray but I guess that's how it goes

Living out here is a give and a take

When it is wet I get Cutter's Point cake!



"I don't care for rain but I do like the rainbows ..." This one is on Wollochet Bay.



In the dark days

When the rain falls

When the sky's not blue

I slosh into Starbucks, pull out my gold card

And order my favorite brew!

Make that a double -- somewhere in Oregon.

Mt. Rainier viewed from Gig Harbor -- always spectacular.

Have a colorful Northwest day!