| Typist: Bethany Every time I travel to Buffalo to visit my family there, I thank my mom and dad for moving our branch of the family to Cascadia. There is a lot to love about Western New York, as well as everywhere I have traveled to in my life, but there is truly no place like my home. As I pondered what exactly it is that I love so much about Cascadia, I realized that a lot of my love for home is difficult to put into words. I follow in my parents footsteps, showing my appreciation by experiencing as much of what the Pacific Northwest and it's surrounding Cascadia region have to offer as I can. So here are a few thankful words and a lot of descriptive photographs describing the five things I love most about Cascadia, the land I will always gratefully call home. |  |
1) Trees: I love Cascadian trees. Big leaf maples, Western Red Cedars, Douglas Firs, Western Hemlocks, Western Larches, pines, aspens, Sequoias, hemlocks, alders...the list goes on and on and on, deciduous and evergreen, I love them all. I love the phases of the forests and the part that each tree plays. I am very grateful to the trees, large and small, for their magnificence, for the air we breathe and for holding up the hills the dogs and I hike with their roots. I often talk to them, thank them and, yes, hug them.
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| 2) Climate and weather: Cascadia is never hot and muggy. We rarely get buried in unmanageable snow. Statistically, it really doesn't rain all that much. Even when it is wet and cloudy for days, I don't mind. I love the rain. Seriously. I also love the gray. Much of Cascadia most of the year is like a black and white photograph with color splash added. All the depth of those gray tones, rain or shine, makes me grin with gratitude constantly.  |  |
3) Wildlife: I love the sights, sounds and even just the idea of the wild animals of Cascadia. On a walk in my own neighborhood, I enjoy wildlife people pay money to see in zoos and aquariums. Listening to the seals bark and watching herons take flight are among the great joys of my day. I am so very grateful to the region that sustains the majestic creatures that share the lands and waterways we all call home.
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| 4) Diversity: From it's stunning mountain ranges to it's volcanic peaks, high deserts and native grasslands, amazing fresh and unique salt bodies of water, Cascadia has it all. While I am sometimes saddened that I have not yet visited every one of the diverse landscapes of my region, I appreciate the bountiful variety of places I have been lucky enough to experience and that the rest is only a road trip away.  |  |
| 5) People: The people of Cascadia are just as diverse as the regions wildlife and landscapes. And they are a huge part of what make this area home. Each and every one of them. Thank you to those of you I have been lucky enough to know, those who I have yet to meet and those who I may never cross-paths with. This same gratitude actually extends to people all over the world but those who live in Cascadia and I literally share common ground and there is an amazing camaraderie in calling the same perfect place home. Nobody is perfect and the same goes for places. However, I think Cascadia is about as close to paradise as a place can get. Just like anywhere that anyone chooses to call home, what I love most about the Pacific Northwest and the surrounding area is it's heart. To me, these five things are what most make that heart beat. If there is anything I missed or simply couldn't put into words or pictures, I am certainly grateful for that part of my Cascadian home as well. |  12th Dogs at a 12th Man Flag Raising: The 12th man is sometimes seen as a symbol for team work. What are your favorite things about where you live? Why are you grateful for home? |
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"Silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone." Welcome to the Share Gratitude Blog Hop. Below are links to thankful posts by grateful bloggers we hope will inspire appreciation. If you are a blogger, please join us in sharing what we are thankful for. If you are a reader, we invite you to enjoy this week appreciation posts and share your gratitude in comments or on social media. Remember to use the hashtag #ShareGratitude so we can all enjoy each thanks given. Thank you for reading and hopping by! |  |
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