Tag Archives: hiking

Ohio’s Beauty in the Fall – Lexie Wohler

Have you ever seen the colors of fall? The leaves changing to different colors are some of the most incredible things to see. There is nothing quite like taking a drive and seeing the colors blend beautifully together. Instead of seeing just green on the trees, you get to see bright red, orange and yellow. We often take the fall weather and the fall beauty for granted because we have lived here for so long.

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We don’t always see the beauty for what it is, until someone else mentions it to us. We often hear the comments of, “What a beautiful fall we are having”, and “it’s nice that we get to see the change of seasons unlike other places.”

Some of my family members come up to Ohio just to see what fall looks like for us. Many of my relatives don’t get to experience the serenity of fall because of where they live. They are in awe of the changing colors and the different atmosphere they feel when they come to Ohio in the fall.

Most of the time, the leaves start changing color in the middle to late September and they continue falling until after thanksgiving in November. When the leaves start dropping, you can see clear across the valley that we have in our backyard. The smell of fall is something very different, too. You can tell that fall has come when the air has a crisp clean sent to it and you feel the colder air in your lungs when you take deep breaths.

It is so refreshing to walk outside on a crisp clear day. It is one of the ways I enjoy fall. I take walks and photograph the changing colors of the leaves and the beauty all around me.  I hear the leaves crunching under your feet as you walk. Have you ever walked outside and smelled the air after a thunderstorm? Well multiply that clean smell by 10 times and add the rustling of the leaves all around you and you just know fall has come.

Sometimes the fall can be fairly warm for our Indian Summer as we call it, in the 60s and 70s. Whereas some other years, the temps can drop to the 50s pretty quickly. The temperatures are some of my favorite aspects about fall. They are often just perfect enough for me to break out some of my favorite sweatshirts and some of my favorite sweatpants. There is nothing like sitting around a warm campfire, drinking warm cider as the temperature drops to the 50s in the evening and into the night.

Some of the fun things you can do include going on nature hikes in some of the area’s finest Metroparks systems. The truth is, you never know what kind of animals you’ll see, from possums to beavers to deer and sometimes even wolves and coyotes. My family often jokes that we have the Disney movie Bambi, right in our backyard with all the woodland creatures around us.

Some other fun things to do include going camping and sitting by campfires and raking a huge pile of leaves just to jump in them and have them spread all over your yard. Fall gives you more wonder to gaze at than you ever thought possible.

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Come experience fall in Ohio if you’ve never been here before. You will not be disappointed.

As the catchphrase goes for Ohio, whatever you’re looking for, you can always find it here.

*Lexie is a repeat guest blogger for The Unsanity and you can find her bio and previous posts here.

The Phoenix

2017 was a big year for me. Let’s run through some highlights:

  1. I re-found my best friend and we started dating back in May of this year. It was perhaps by accident and totally not planned but it took him awhile to decide if thats what we truly were supposed to be. Turns out, it was.
  2. We got engaged in the very end of September at our favorite place and where we had our first official date nearly 3.5 years ago at the Bloomsburg Fair in PA.
  3. I got a major promotion with the company I worked for at the time in July, and became a work from home person starting August 1. I now am a #bossbitch and work for the government creating content and social media copy for the Defense Health Agency and Department of Defense.
  4. That job landed me (and the fiancé) in Washington State for December 1 working on Joint Base Lewis-McChord for DHA Connected Health. The Pacific Northwest is great, so far. Even though we have MUCH to explore and things to be seen come spring and summer. I’m very excited.
  5. We were fortunate enough to drive across the country from PA to WA in November right after Thanksgiving and made it in 4 days, with enough time to stop at House On The Rock in Wisconsin even and spend some time there to gawk and the insanity that it is. While on the way out, I got to meet some of his family in Montana, and my god, that state is the prettiest state I’ve ever been in. #BigSkyCountry is the place to drive through in fall and summer.
  6. I can now mark quite a few states off my list that I’ve visited and they aren’t all on the east coast anymore. Hooray! An updated list of states I’ve visited so far: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana and Minnesota. 
  7. Mom came and visited (already!) for Christmas and had a great few days with her. It was great to see someone, even though I wasn’t away for that long from my friends and family. I can’t wait until she brings me my kitties in the spring… I think thats part of the reason I am semi depressed.

Things are going pretty good. Helping my partner get passion back in his life is the hardest part right now. We’re both a bit under the weather and depressed and thought maybe this would help with the move, but so far, it’s just remained the same and maybe even potentially gotten a bit worse. I’m not too worried though. We’re still in the beginning and we have a lot to get done still including finishing setting up the apartment and finding him a job yet. I’m also in the market for a car, so I’m hoping that falls into place soon. Sadly, I sold Hannah at the end of December, but it was time for an upgrade and possibly a more adult car… (like I said, possibly.)

Things have a way of working out. Even though I miss my friends and family, I know some of them will be out in time to see me (and us) its just a matter of when. I feel that if I keep those close to me, I’ll slowly break from the depression I might be feeling these days. I’ll get used to it out here… soon.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned is sometimes a part of you must die. It’s what separates the newer version of us from the old. If you have ever been in the limbo of death and rebirth you know how hard it can be. To let go and say goodbye to a part of you, so a new and better part can grow.

We should strive to be like the Phoenix when we need to. To die and rise from the ashes of what we once were. We must say Goodbye, so we can say Hello.

Love Always,

Koral Dawn