Tag Archives: autumn leaves

October 16, 2026

Weather Notes (10/16/26)

It occurs to me that the date format used in the title can be ambiguous. It’s certainly a local format. The longer form used for Friday Notes, (e.g. Oct 16, 2026), is specific but makes post titles longer than I like. I use the ambiguous form for brevity.

But for the record, throughout this blog, when used, I do mean month/day/year. Which I’ve long thought is an awful format because it doesn’t sort naturally, especially with no leading zeros on single digits. The sortable form is yyyy–mm–dd (with leading zeros on single digits).

But I digress (already!), so without further ado, here’s the local weather:

8 Comments | tags: autumn leaves, Bentley, charts, dew point, trees, weather, Weather Notes | posted in Friday Notes

September 23, 2020

Got the Shot

By Wyrd Smythe

Sort of. It’s not quite the shot I’d hoped for, but it’s close-ish:

There actually is a cloud bank on the eastern horizon, so the Sun wasn’t too visible as it rose, but once it got a bit above the horizon, it was. And, a day later, it’s moved a bit south, too.

17 Comments | tags: autumn, autumn leaves, autumnal equinox, Harry Nilsson, Sun, trees | posted in Life

September 22, 2020

Best Laid Plans

By Wyrd Smythe

One of my favorite lines of poetry comes from the great Robert Burns poem, “To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough” (not to be confused with his similarly titled “To A Louse (On Seeing One On A Lady’s Bonnet, At Church)”).

The line in question is, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men; Gang aft agley,” (go often astray), and — as you see — it applied to my plan to capture the last sunrise of summer this morning.

79 Comments | tags: autumn, autumn leaves, autumnal equinox, Robert Burns, To A Mouse, walking | posted in Life

October 11, 2014

Sam’s Final Walk

By Wyrd Smythe

The autumn leaves that litter the trail crunch beneath my feet, and dozens of flying insects — grasshoppers I think — flee the oncoming giant tromping through their domain. The late morning sky is a lovely cerulean broken only by lonely, scattered cloud wisps. The October air is crisp — like a chilled white wine — dry, bracing, invigorating. I am given a perfect fall day to accomplish my task.

The trees that surround me, mostly oak and linden, a few scattered elms, give way to pines. Now the trail is covered in long pine needles and pinecones. Large birds — falcons perhaps — watch my passing with avian alarm. A brave one flies directly overhead to get a closer look at the encroaching human.

I’m seeking the “Cathedral of Pines,” the place I’ve chosen for Sam’s final rest.

36 Comments | tags: ashes, autumn leaves, Black Lab, Black Labrador Retriever, dogs, final resting place, last rites, mourning, parks, peace, perfect day, pine trees, quiet, Sam, Samantha, silence, trees | posted in Life

October 10, 2014

Autumn Frost!

By Wyrd Smythe

autumn leaves I’ve been trying to re-synch my clock to a more normal daylight cycle. All my life I’ve been a “night crawler.” My very first official job involved a retail position, but we worked outdoors. I noticed how, no matter how tired I was, once the sun fell, I got a fresh breath of wind. And even at my advanced age, staying up all night is easy (and so is napping all afternoon).

My (ex-)wife used to say I must have vampire blood in me. It’s true I do like to bite necks, but so far I have drawn only moans, no blood. It may be more that I’ve always identified with the idea, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Life is filled with so many interesting things, who wants to waste time sleeping? And for all my life, five hours seems to do me just fine.

But the point here is that I’ve been trying to become more of a day person.

19 Comments | tags: autumn, autumn leaves, frost, frosty lawn, frosty roof, global warming, lawn, snow, winter | posted in Life