I haven’t blogged in a bit, mostly because I’ve been swamped with a million different things going on. I hope to write more in the next few weeks as we settle into Fall. It already has started to get colder out at night, and the leaves are changing into such brilliant colors. I saw the most beautiful reddish orange tree just this morning on my way to work. It was gorgeous.

A few weekends ago the family and I went camping in Conway, NH with friends at Cove Camping, a small campground that’s right on Conway Lake. The place was so relaxing and beautiful. My cellphone didn’t have any service and so I was able to disconnect from the grid for a few days, and get back in touch with people and nature.

Whenever we go camping I take my camera and take lots of pictures of the leaves and trees. The view of the lake was spectacular. I had planned on getting a nice picture of the lake early in the morning, when the fog was slowly creeping off of it, but every morning we were there it was grey and looked like rain. And there was no fog. But I was able to get some really nice pictures anyway.

In the mornings you could hear the loons and the bluejays, nature’s alarm clocks. Little chipmunks ran about in the trees and on the rocks. And chickadees hid among the bushes and branches near the lake. The kids fished in the lake and caught small green sunfish. And we even found a frog.

There’s something so comforting about being in the woods, around all those trees. I always feel so welcome when I’m in the forest. Maybe because there is so much green everywhere.  I even noticed something. I always used to think that leaves were in perfect alignment, that their lines met at the center. But as you can see in the photo below, they don’t quite match up in the middle. They’re slightly off. Whenever I draw leaves I always draw them so the lines match up, but now I guess I’ll have to stagger them, just like nature does. Because nothing is ever perfect, not even a leaf.

The smell of a campfire can be so intoxicating. It’s instantly comforting. All you want to do is just sit around it, and do nothing. When it’s cold out it ‘s nice to sit at the fire and stare into the flames. This time I tried something new when we made s’mores. Instead of regular chocolate bar pieces I substituted a Reeses peanut butter cup. I have to say it was really good. And I might just have to do it again the next time we make them.

We are all done camping this year.  But I’m sure we’ll be camping again next summer, and having lots more fun. It was nice to get away this one last time, before winter rolls in and makes everything white, and cold.