an autumn walk

We arrived in Oregon at such a beautiful time of year. It appeared to be the peak of autumn here--the leaves were gorgeously bright and abundant and still mostly on the trees instead of the ground. I took these photos about 2 weeks ago, and just these last few days here the leaves have finally been falling like crazy, covering the streets and our yard with a thick blanket of color. It's been nice having a long fall season.

Ah, I do love fall.

I really enjoy our neighborhood here in McMinnville. There are blocks and blocks of houses and pretty trees and leaves and sidewalks which make for quite a lovely walk.

Care to join us?

Another favorite thing about our location is that it's only a ten minute walk to the library (and a 2 minute drive). I absolutely love libraries and have since being a kid. This McMinnville library is also right next to the city park which has the coolest playground!

This huge tree is by the library--can you see Caedon at the bottom?

A fun thing about moving to a brand new place is that there is so much to explore. It's like a scavenger hunt trying to find all the best places to play, shop, and eat. You ask locals, search the internet, drive and walk around, following leads and looking for clues as to where the "treasure" spots are.

I wish I had done more of this searching when I lived in Ohio. Once you get used to an area, it's easy to stop looking for new and exciting places to explore. I had a good idea already of where all the neat places were, so I just didn't take time to really look anymore.

But there is something so fun in the search itself--even if you've lived in one place your whole life, why not keep digging deeper in pursuit of new and different things? Nature is so vast and beautiful; God made it for us to explore and examine and inquire and just enjoy. Searching for new places is also a great way to meet new and interesting people. I love how God created so much diversity here on earth, both in nature and human beings, there is no end to what you can find.

You don't need to drive a thousand miles to look for new sights and places, just take a good look around where you already are. It's a good starting point, and you never know what it will lead you to discover.