Lakes and fall colors

I had packed quite a few winter clothes for my trip to Sweden but so far have not had to use very many. Fall and winter can sometimes come already in October. Fall is here but it has hardly rained and it has been mild with temperatures around 50 most days.

As I live at 3500 feet in Weed in California it is quite different to be at sea level now. There are many more deciduous trees and the leaves are turning colors. We do not have the multicolored leaves like some parts of the east coast in the US, but they are turning yellow and reddish brown. I am not used to seeing this after so many years at a higher altitude and it is nice with a change of scenery.

I am still staying with one friend mostly when I am in the Stockholm area and she moved about 2 weeks ago to a fairly rural area about 20 km from where she lived before. As I was on a trip, to other parts of Sweden, for about 8 days and just got back a few days ago I have not been able to go for walks much in this rural area, but am now trying to go for a walk every day to experience the wonderful Swedish forest. I love the green moss and that I can walk everywhere. I am, however, noticing that I have become "Americanized" and am sometimes thinking about where I can walk. Then I have to remind myself that Sweden has "the freedom to roam" or the right of public access to the wilderness (Allemansrätten in Swedish) which means that you can walk almost anywhere even if it is private land. That is one thing I have always missed since I came to the US.

I went to two different parts of Sweden - Värmland and Dalarna - to visit and check out those areas. I went to a small town i Dalarna that sits right next to a very nice lake. Sweden has almost 98,000 lakes and there is water everywhere. A nice change coming from the drought in California. These pictures are from the lake I visited.

These pictures are from the rural area where my friend now lives and this is what fall looks like right now.