The falling leaves that floated outside my picture window today beckoned me to join them. How could I decline the invitation? The perfect autumn backdrop for nature and landscape photographers lies just outside my door here in Virginia in October.

So, I ventured to the State Arboretum of Virginia and took a walk with Peppermint and the Fuji X-T10. It was the Fuji’s maiden voyage to my favorite local hangout, and, again, I was smitten with the results, even on a day I wasn’t at my best.

I’ve spent most of the past month indoors, recovering from an illness and working to catch up on all of the projects that have slowly slipped by me, their deadlines fast approaching and some gratefully extended.

While I gazed out the windows of my office last week I appreciated the resident doe and her fawn, now without spots and sporting its first winter coat, that regularly grazed on the tender shoots of new grass we seeded last month. I’ve also enjoyed the huge flock of turkeys that have strolled through a few times, once even stopping traffic as they sauntered along the road. It was fun to see the VDOT workers in their big, white work truck grab their cell phones and take photos out the windows.

Unfortunately, most of the time I haven’t felt up to joining them. Today it’s been exactly a month since my hospitalization, and I’m not nearly as far along as I’d hoped. I wish I were 10 years younger, because back then I seemed to rebound without effort. I was sick, then I was well, and that was it.

But, I guess that’s the nature of life, that the passing of time does change you and not always for the better. However, I look back on that person of 10 years ago and am so thankful that she’s changed and evolved into who she is today.

OK, back to first person where I’m more comfortable. I went to the local bookstore yesterday where I love to browse new magazines and soak up inspiration for my own projects. There, I discovered a Dutch publication called Flow Mindfulness. It’s following along on the current trend of mindfulness, but what attracted me to it was the diary-like structure and the day-to-day goals that seemed perfect for me at this time and place, where short-term memory challenges still remain. I look forward to exploring this publication and its associated website, where the editors stress the joy of doing one thing at a time and focusing on the present. I think I can handle that!

Each time life throws you challenges, it opens new doors to explore different solutions. I’m planning to take advantage of this opportunity and step into a few new places and see where they take me. And, after today, I intend to spend more time at the Arboretum with the Fuji this fall!