Yesterday, Kirk and I headed north for a 10-day visit to the land of ultimate fall foliage. We've come to New York to visit his aunt Diana, who demonstrates what it means to be a true warrior in her fight against breast cancer. I've gotten to meet her once before, and she brings so much light and sincerity everywhere she goes. We're looking forward to seeing her in this upcoming week -- and we've already been warned that she wants to go hiking!

In the meantime, we've been heading north. We flew into Albany, picked up our rental car, and started heading toward Lake George and then the Vermont border. (The photographs in this post were taken at the south tip of Lake George, right where it begins. Kirk's grandpop, one of the foremost influences in his life, spent a lot of time in this very place.)

The drive was gorgeous, and that is an understatement. All of the leaves on the trees have been turning, and the trees are everywhere. There are lots of wooded areas, and the Adirondack mountains are just to the left of the highway we've been climbing along. Today we'll be crossing the width of Vermont (which in such a small, modest state should only take about two hours), and then we'll spend the next two days near Squam Lake in New Hampshire before heading back to New York to visit with Diana.

I've been absent from blogging for a few weeks, and the time away has been good. I've been able to focus on school and finishing my first full class at Spring Arbor. (Wow! I can hardly believe I've already finished one full class!) Kirk and I took a weekend trip to visit his mom up in Georgia. And I've been working on a new secret project.

Through all this time, I've been thinking a lot about what feels like a very new season of life I'm stepping into. I recently wrote about this on the Also Only/Even If blog, describing it as a gentle nudge toward change that feels impending, natural, but also scary. You can read my thoughts and experience of this change here.