On the cover photo, Poppy brilliantly captures her selfie with sunlight diffusing through a North Carolina forest that preciously lasted just for a few seconds.

In the past three months, my family and I have traveled from the tropical urban paradise of Bangkok, Thailand, back to our previous home in the harsh, drought stricken Western Colorado, and to the lush pine and oak forests of North Carolina for fall break. Check out my gallery for some of our favorite photographs.

In Bangkok, I felt very connected to Nature by taking morning walks in our suburban neighborhood filled with sweet-smelling flowering trees and shrubs, listening to ubiquitous bird calls, and feeling soaked by intense humidity.

In Grand Junction, Colorado, we’ve transitioned from summer to fall, from wildfire smoke plaguing the western United States and dryness that makes our eyes and noses gritty, and on to cooler temperatures with morning frosts. Currently, the skies are clear but as winter approaches we will soon see inversions of cold air in the valley that traps air pollution and warmer temperatures in the mountains making for healthy skiing. The cottonwood forests along the Colorado River and aspens in the mountains are turning brilliant shades of dark to light yellow.

In North Carolina, we immediately felt awestruck by the tall thin pine trees around the Raleigh-Durham International airport. These immature forests spaced closely together tower over roadways. The clever capitol city designers of past decades laid out a wonderful mix of greenspace, residential, commercial, industrial and educational institutions including the famous Research Triangle Park. We enjoyed bike riding through the pine forests and parks with lakes around Cary-Apex as well as hiking with friends at Cascades Preserve. The boost of oxygen in the forests refreshes the body and spirit.

Visiting the Guilford College campus in Greensboro as an alumnus for the first time in 21 years since attending a reunion, I immediately recalled the amazing smell of oak trees that dominate the interior quadrangular landscape. We saw gray squirrels busily collecting acorns and environmental sustainability students harvesting beautiful Kentucky rainbow corn. The Guilford Woods contain 240 acres of old growth forest where the Quakers, who founded the College in 1837, hid slaves in the “underground railroad” as well as contentious objectors against fighting previous wars.

We also traveled to western North Carolina to see Asheville and other towns along the Blue Ridge parkway. The mountain winterberry and maple trees were just being to change colors to yellow and red.

Visiting three diverse environments brought home to us the beauty and essential need for healthy forests! In the next blog, I plan to discuss national forest management and combatting wildfires.