Fall.

Fall.  It's fall here.  No more shorts and tank tops.  The sun's not that strong any more.  Fall means time to get things done.  Fall means time to get ready for winter.  Fall means time to leave the country again. I am, after all, chasing summer.

This time my chase takes me to the other side of the planet, quite literally.  I'm trading Colorado for New Zealand in twenty days.  My friends tell me I'm going to Rohan, or Gondor.  Poor New Zealand.  No one will ever think of it without thinking of that too.  But it's a worthy distinction.  I confess, I have been rewatching the Lord of the Rings - completely ignoring the storyline, just taking in the scenery.  That beautiful scenery I will soon get to call home.

I'll actually be living closest to the Dead Marshes (check out this nifty map to see what I mean), but Rohan's not too far away.  And I'm surrounded by Elven lands and the Misty Mountains.  Go ahead, feel bad for me.

Really, actually, though, don't.  Here's why: I'll be arriving on the South Island just in time for spring to kick in, and I'll be living in Te Anau, a little town that serves as the gateway to Fiordland National Park, which is where I'll be working in the visitor center.  I'll get to explore the area until the end of April, as fall sets in.  There it is again, fall.  Fall, fall, fall.

Te Anau, on Lake Te Anau.