Feel a little bad complaining about our gray and wet winters when there is so much of the country buried deep in snow. After 45 (almost 46) years, I think maybe I am entitled to whine a little. REALLY hoping that this will be my last January in Washington. For those of you that know me, also know how much I struggle with the rain and gray, and also how hard I have to work at overcoming the annual onset of the blahs...
When I first opened "Caron's" in Poulsbo, that was one of my goals - not only for myself, but for especially for our customers. It seemed to have worked. Cannot tell you the number of people that would come into our light-filled store, painted in the colors of a summer sea, filled to the brim with beach and coastal reminders, to simply walk around, smell the candles, listen to some jazz, and would always leave feeling better.
Now, that I am creating a new kind of business, (online, not brick and mortar) I am using those lessons to help me make it through another January, February, March, April and possibly part of May... Always making sure that I work in a light filled space, taking breaks to look out at the sound and the ever changing water-landscape, and talking to friends to help beat the Northwest Blues. Many days, the water is so quiet, hardly a ripple is reflected, all the easier to see the surprise of a sea lion trolling for salmon, or the darting of a bald eagle in search of prey.
Walking helps tremendously, even if it is raining! Here's some photos from a very gray morning today, there's very little color, but brilliant color when I could catch it in the dripping rain. There's also something very beautiful about nature hiding, waiting patiently, silently sleeping, storing up energy to wake up with the coming of spring.
Found this lovely moon snail shell on my beach travails earlier this week; a walk in the rain and the gray to escape writing and the depression of living indoors in January. 
