Over the last month, Mother Nature has shown a number of sides to her beauty.

As the days have been growing shorter and the trees begin their preparations for winter, the mountains surrounding the Carbon County area have come alive, bursting with colors.

We as locals may not fully grasp just how beautiful a scene it is since we live here, work here and play here.

But for visitors, like the thousands of people who flock to Jim Thorpe throughout October, the sight is truly breathtaking.

As I get older, I find myself stopping a little more and enjoying the fall colors, pointing them out to my kids whenever we are driving somewhere. They say “wow,” but I don’t think they get just how special it is. I didn’t either when I was a kid.

You don’t realize just how beautiful this area is until you are driving home from somewhere and a mountain ridge comes into view, lit by the setting or rising sun, the colors on the wind.

And, while the fall colors are an amazing sight, the region was also treated to something even more special in the night skies two weeks ago.

The aurora borealis, something on many people’s bucket list, came to us in all its magnificent glory.

Facebook flooded with photos of everyone’s views of the northern lights, and it was magnificent — a breath of fresh air away from all the political crud that clutters social media feeds today.

My family stood outside watching the magic happen as pinks and greens danced through the night, enjoying a sight that normally never happens this far south.

It was rare and it was beautiful.

It was something our children will remember for years to come.

And now, flash back to Oct. 17, when the Hunter’s Moon, a full supermoon, lit up the night sky, while Comet A3, zoomed across the darkness one of a few times over the last week.

My son and I tried to photograph the moon, but we failed. Not because I didn’t have the equipment to take a good photo, but rather because of the creatures that live around us.

I’ll leave you with a little story.

As Logan and I stood along the dark road setting up the camera and tripod to photograph the moon, we heard a rustling in the woods across the street. The town where we live is known for the number of bears that inhabit the area, so of course, Logan immediately thought it was one of Yogi’s friends.

He looked at me and I looked at him, but only long enough to realize that fight or flight instincts were kicking in on my son.

Before I know it, he is running back to the house (about a block away if we lived in a town), while leaving me standing there holding a DSLR camera and tripod in the dark.

As I made my way back to the house, juggling the equipment, he stood near the house yelling, “Come on, Mom.”

I honestly don’t know if it was a bear or a squirrel or other furry creature or a bird, but as I got into the house, I looked at my family and asked them one question: “How do you make sure you don’t get attacked by a bear?”

They looked at me, and I looked back at them before giving them the answer.

“If you want to be safe from a bear, make sure you outrun the person you are with.”

Logan sure followed that rule.