If someone had offered me a chair, I think I could have sat for a week and just watched the colors of the fall leaves changing to auburn, burnt orange, gold and cinnamon. In a few more weeks it would have been too much of a risk to travel to Upstate New York. It’s not unusual for the first flurries of snow to come in November, and in a heavy snowfall year, there’s a chance of getting snowed in. But today. . .

Driving to the top of Prospect Mountain, and the Lake George overlook, I made it to the area just in time to see the most beautiful display of color!

This season, full of change, is at once crisp, beautiful, inspiring, and sometimes tumultuous. Some have trouble enjoying it, because in this part of the country there is snow just around the corner, sometimes for months and months. The community goes into a sort of hibernation. . . unless they embrace the snow, and its possibilities for snowshoeing, building forts and snowball fights. It might take a great deal of mindfulness practice, being in the moment, meditating, and seeking gratitude to enjoy what is before you and forget about the dark skies and dark mood that could strike soon.

But the sun is shining today, I’ve lost count of the colors in the trees and shrubs at arms reach, and I have a handful of leaves tucked away, to press between the pages of my heaviest old textbooks, philosophical essays & collection of Shakespeare.

Back home, putting my patio garden to bed, I realize that there are two benefits to closing off that part of my home environment, for the time being. Thinking ahead, I have a sort of clean slate out there on the patio, and a long dormant season to think about what I want to do with it. In the immediate moment, my kitchen window is taken over by an herb garden, and an enthusiastic fern, the size of my kitchen table, is brought inside, to lend its greenery to an otherwise rust and coffee colored brick wall.

If I can’t stay here, I’m ready for the next adventure!

~ Kat

The Adirondacks – http://visitadirondacks.com/

Lake George – http://www.visitlakegeorge.com/home

Prospect Mountain – http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9176.html