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Here is the danger of editing a publication like Lake Superior Magazine:

When it comes time for a getaway, there seems little point to getting too far away from your own 3-quadrillion-gallon neighborhood.

I lived far from the Big Lake for about 20 years of my adulthood – and yes, skeptical siblings, I’m a card-carrying AARP member, proof of adulthood if not of growing up.

Each state or country where I lived had its natural charms … but Lake Superior draws us supernaturally.

Those other “homes” could not compete too long for my heart or my hearth.

Back home now for more than a decade, it seems like any of our husband-wife conversations that start with “Where do you want to go on vacation?” usually end with “… on the Lake.”

The Lake being Lake Superior, of course.

The question of what we will do when we get there … now that is the stuff that fills magazine after magazine, year after year.

In this issue, for instance, we have a story about three cool opportunities to get above the fall leaves and have a bit of an adventure at the same time. We also give you a wide variety of winter and fall recreation ideas not to mention lots of travel tips about upcoming concerts, new museum exhibits and plenty of events.

Traveling around this Lake, as one story describes, you can even find traces left by ancient residents of the region – so ancient there wasn’t a Lake Superior then or even oxygen in the atmosphere. (That’s 2 billion years ago; hey, talk about your AARP memberships.)

One of the best times to travel the Lake is fall. The bugs have bugged out, the muggy days have subsided (or even frozen to death, depending on how soon that first frost hits) and the Lake itself puts on at least a few of its displays, from frisky to nasty, that make our location so fascinating. And then there is the fall color.

Turns out not all of the color is “up.” One of our writers spent time in the Porcupine Mountains “birding” for mushrooms, as it were. That is, she wandered on a trail with a guidebook, spotting the brilliantly colored fungi and having a thoroughly enjoyable time of it.

Critter spotting seems better in the fall, both early and late. The “Go” button is on for most woodland animals to move south, gather more food or woo more mates. Cooler weather and fewer bugs and ticks have to be mood brighteners, too.

Later in the season, after most of the leaves have tumbled, it’s just easier to see things moving around in the woods. This is the time to try hiking our many trails if the summer has been too busy. Take half an hour for yourself. Most of us live close to a hiking path even in town.

Fall is also one of a northern dog’s favorite times of year. The cooler weather makes even mature pups momentarily perky.

Another annual magic moment for Up North pooches is the first snow, which comes as early as November here or, if I’m recalling my blizzards correctly, as early as Halloween.

That virgin snow sets off a “wooo boy!” trigger that never fails to throw a dog into a spasm of happy wiggling and culminates in rolling on any tiny patch of accumulated snow, legs up to the sky in exaltation.

I’ve been tempted to do that myself after some particularly hot summers, but deference to my husband’s sense of dignity and the fact that I haven’t met all of the newest neighbors has stopped me so far. I can’t vouch for the future.

For now, though, the husband, the dog and I will be content with short rides to the shore, long walks in the woods and putting in a few words of thanks for being able to live in a place like no other that is truly “home.”