With fall nearly over and cold weather temperatures here, I have to say I enjoyed this fall.

But, I don’t think people know what that means. I don’t just mean I enjoyed it, I mean I got out in it and enjoyed all the changing season had to offer. And I documented it with lots of photos I love.

I played in leaves crisp to the running shoes and bright to the eye. I explored the reds, oranges, yellows, and browns throughout my home state. I explored new trails and old trails taking in the sights of fall-shades so brilliant you almost can’t imagine them. I saw plants with their flowers long gone and trails blanketed with leaves. I ran through the woods enjoying the freedom and glory you only experience when alone just you and the trail.

I hiked paths along rivers, lakes, streams, and forests…alone, with my husband, and with friends. I saw tracks, animals, and signs of old life in those woods. I watched leaves fall doing their delicate dance and swirl before falling to the ground for one last display of color.

I listened to fall. I heard the wind blow through the trees, the branches and leaves creating their own music and rhythm like a fall symphony. I heard animals of fall collecting, gathering, scurrying, and seeming to enjoy the same things I was. I heard leaves fall from their trees and land ever so softly on the ground. I listened to the water move slowly and quickly soon to be stilled during winter months. I heard the light pounding pattern of my feet as they hit the soft ground below.

I smelled the scents of fall. The crisp, earthly leaves…the grass and its greeness still holding on. I smelled the dirt that has a scent unique to fall as Mother Earth prepares for the cold days ahead. I smelled the crispness of cold fall mornings. I took in the scents of apples on trees and the smell of late flowers of autumn.

I felt fall’s wind on my neck, in my hair, and on my ears. I felt nature’s contrast of cold mornings followed by autumn’s sun slowly warming me with sunshine. I felt raindrops on my face and the soft Earth beneath my feet-the perfect spring to a runner’s step. I felt leaves I collected in my hands, and the contrast of roughness of a tree’s bark compared to its leaves. I enjoyed the warmth of my morning coffee in my hands as I hiked through nature’s splendor.

I thought about life. I worried about things big and small. I forgot my worries. I planned the trivial details of the week’s to do list. I dreamed big and let my imagination run wild. I thought about fears and losses. I remembered the things experiences I’m grateful for. I thought about my past. I imagined the future. I thought about nothing. I thought about everything.

I danced, smiled, laughed, and felt full of contentment as I stood in falls subtle sounds, leaves falling all around me as if I were in a movie, taking in every color and painting a permanent picture in my mind to last me through the long days ahead while bottling the crisp scent of fall in the woods. I felt the peace that you only feel when you’ve spent a day in nature-a feeling another person or place can’t quite replace or create.

When I say I enjoyed fall…that was what I meant.

It had been too many years since I’ve enjoyed fall. I mean really enjoyed fall. There are only days left.

Slow down. Get out there. Enjoy fall.

Pilgrim Pacer Race Report is almost done!