This week, the fall colors lured us out, and Claire and Rory and I (well, Rory was being worn by her mama) hiked around Royal Lake, only 30 minutes from here but a place I’d never seen. 

What a discovery! The two-mile trail winds through woods and open meadow and skirts a small dam. We saw ducks and geese in the lake and turtles sunning themselves on a log. 

And then there were the breathtaking colors: The brilliant scarlet of the maples, the glow-from-within orange of the American beech and the sunny yellows of the tulip tree. 

We had a flurry of excitement at the end of our walk, including a car that wouldn’t start. But what lingers in my mind now is the beauty of the stroll … and of the company.