I can't believe summer is coming to an end! It still shocks me, every year, when September suddenly rolls around and the Halloween candy starts appearing in CVS. It's like, really? Already? No!!!

But on the other hand, the 50 degree nights of late summer are so welcoming after weeks and weeks of sticky humidity. It immediately triggers my wool sweater and pumpkins response. Even though we spend most of the year in the dark and cold, I can't imagine living somewhere where there are no seasons and it's either hot or cold all year round. I love the seasonal rhythm and adapting to the changes. It always feels right, no matter how much I'm dreading wearing a down coat for the next six months. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Yet another RI ramble G and I did this summer was at Lime Rock Preserve in Lincoln, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy. The trail was only 2 miles, so this took no time at all, but it was still a pretty little hike that happened to be crawling with mushrooms.






The trail leads to a big pond with an earthen dam that was pretty cool.


At the very start of the trail we saw this giant, fuzzy, poison ivy stalk snaking all the way up a tree. Yikes!

G and I took a nice little ramble along the Ben Utter Trail in Exeter, RI last weekend. It's located in the Arcadia Management Area, and there were trails all over the place for hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers. It was pretty cool. I thought we were lost as the dirt road to get to the trail seemed to take forever and our Toyota Corolla didn't seem like a good car to be taking down a long, bumpy, dirt road. But we got there just fine and I was once again proven to be an overly anxious worry wart.









Abandoned log pavilion in an abandoned picnic area.


Follow the yellow blazes!




The trail led to a bunch of waterfalls called Stepstone Falls, but unfortunately they were pretty dry that day. Oh well. It was still a lovely little walk through the woods. Being in the "Ocean State" it's easy to forget there are lots of outdoorsy alternatives to the beach!

Yesterday G and I drove down to Pt. Judith and took the ferry over to Block Island. We rented bikes and rode North from Old Harbor up to North Light, about four miles each way. We stopped and walked down a trail to a really beautiful, secluded beach called Mansion Beach. We also did a nature walk through the Hodge Preserve.


Mansion Beach. It had big, eroding cliffs which was kind of sad.


It's hard to stay sad when this is your view, however!


The Hodge Preserve.


The path through the Preserve was lined with blackberry and raspberry bushes. Yum!


Cute little movie theater in Old Harbor.

My favorite fun fact about Block Island is that while there are street addresses, there is no mail delivery. Also, all homes and businesses are assigned a "fire number" that emergency services use for responding to calls - they don't use the street address.

These are in the medicine cabinet at my office. Ha!

G and I went up to NH for my mom's birthday on Sunday, and Saturday night we were able to check out some NH roller derby action at JFK Coliseum in Manch:


I loved the facade of the arena.




You've been warned!

Cremeland Drive In, Manchester, NH.

Revolving door at Bank of America, Providence, RI.