Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.
~Fred Rogers

For a number of years, Mike and I have made calendars for friends and family. Each month has a picture from that month in the previous year (give or take a bit) and a quote.

Our 2025 calendar was slightly different. Given our departure from North Carolina after 24 and 47 years (for Melissa and Mike, respectively), we decided to make a “greatest hits” calendar. Each month featured one of our favorite photos from one of our favorite places in North Carolina, as well as a quote.

The Fred Rogers quote was on the cover. This year has indeed been one of endings and beginnings. So, as we celebrate the arrival of 2026, we thought it would be nice to share the photos and quotes from our 2025 calendar with you.

Watching the animals come and go, and feeling the land swell up to meet them and then feeling it grow still at their departure, I came to think of the migrations as breath, as the land breathing.
~Barry Lopez

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty, if only we have the eyes to see them.
~John Ruskin

“Hope” is the thing with feathers— / That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words— / And never stops— at all—
~Emily Dickinson

I enter the swamp as a sacred place.
~Henry David Thoreau

The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.
~Julie Zickefoose

To think that plants ate insects would go against the order of nature…
~Carl Linnaeus

Sunsets are proof that no matter what happens, every day can end beautifully.
~Kristen Butler

The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough.
~Rabindranath

The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.
~Rachel Carson

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.
~John Muir

The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun and moon keep their diary.
~ Alfred Kreymborg

When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.
~Alexandra Stoddard

We have most certainly carried the beauties of North Carolina with us to our new home. And, as we’ve shared in posts since our move in May, we have found many new beauties here in Yellowstone.

Today, we spent time in the park marveling at ice crystals decorating the trees, listening to the sound of moose antlers clashing, following the joyful tracks of an ermine across the snow, and taking in this huge and spectacular landscape. We’ll share more details and images soon.

For now, we reflect on a momentous year. We are grateful for our time in North Carolina, and for the wild places we love there. And, we are grateful that life has afforded us the chance for this new adventure in Yellowstone. Thank you for following along and sharing our journey!