start of the season musings

It’s the first day of fall, 2024 edition

Boo.

That is all.

Well, and a cat:

Okay, a little more:

Today’s forecast is light showers and a high of 18, which is a bit cooler than normal. Tuesday they claim a high of 25 (not a record, but 5 degrees warmer than average) and mostly sunny. The point is we have reached the season of variable weather, where it could be sunny and almost summer-like (good fall) or wet and cool (not Fonzie cool, the other kind), which is bad fall. But the seasons are relentless and there’s no avoiding them, so instead I will look forward to drinking tea, keeping warm and enjoying runs where I don’t have to worry about Dry Mouth Syndrome. See? Positive!

It’s the first day of summer (2024) as we know it (and I feel adequate)

Good news: My favourite season has arrived. Yay! Yes yes, climate change, heat domes, etc. I don’t care, summer is still my favourite season.

Bad news: I am still sick, though improved. I was able to go out and aboot without any issue. At home, I was coughing occasionally, mostly when sitting in certain specific positions that told my body, “Now is the time to cough.” They were all the most comfortable positions, too. 🙁

Neither good nor bad news: The weather today was very summer-like, with a high temperature of 28°C and “felt like 32”. It was pretty warm compared to what we’ve been getting. We’ll get one more day of sun before YMS (Yet More Showers). I don’t think I’ve ever seen grass so lush and green on June 20th before.

Anyway, here is another shot of Hume Park, this time the lower part.

Yay, spring! (2024 edition)

Spring is starting out strong this year, as it is coinciding with the last bit of the unusually warm weather we’ve had over the last few days. It’ll be back to seasonal or seasonal-ish after that.

For now, though, it is pleasant and sunny and things are getting greener (in a good way).

And now, a spring bunny:

Hooray for more daylight

Photo by Pixabay

It’s my annual post celebrating the arrival of Daylight Saving Time, which should totally be permanent but isn’t because politicians are dum-dums.

I will cherish that extra hour of light this evening by going out and revelling in the lightness of it all. Unless it’s raining, in which case I’ll be inside and hiding.

March 2024: The Possibilities

March is a fun month, but also weird and sometimes horrible. Behold my list (with semi-random bold highlights):

  • We switch back to Daylight Saving Time, aka Proper Time, and gain back an extra hour of light in the evening (as of March 10). This is good for birding and just not being in the dark as much.
  • Spring officially begins (on March 19). I saw buds on trees back in January, so spring is really already underway, despite a few attempts at snow since then (Mother Nature is acting more like Mother from the terrible Police song of the same name right now).
  • Even without DST, daylight is stretching out longer into the evening.
  • Temperatures start getting milder. T-shirt weather soon! (More seriously, t-shirts become feasible outdoors as soon as next month, barring climate change hijinks that could genuinely push this into March).
  • A downside: Starting with February, the amount of precipitation goes down every month until September, when it starts going back up–except for March. March is an anomaly, where it is wetter than February. The downward trend resumes in April.
  • Speaking of, it is 3°C and raining as I type this, with a high of 7 forecast (two degrees off the average). Winter is reminding us it’s still official for 17 more days.
  • But also speaking of, March is where the last chance for real snow that sticks to the ground and needs to be shovelled, comes to an end. Looking at the 10-day forecast, it seems we are safe from any more snow accumulations for Winter 2023-24, though a few flakes may fall over the next few days here and there, just to annoy everyone.

Here’s the historic average for rainfall. It’s for New Westminster, but I checked, and it’s accurate for the whole Lower Mainland1Or Metro Vancouver, if you prefer to be all official about it.

March: We heard you like rain.

And with all that said, here is my haiku for March.

Haiku for March

Warmer and brighter
But still the rain won't let up
Take what you can get

It’s the first day of fall, 2023 edition

Unlike the start of last fall, which turned out to really be the beginning of a one-month extension of a hot and humid summer, Fall 2023 has started out gray, with threats of showers in the afternoon, and a high temperature in the teens (17C).

Which is to say: Boo. I was prepared for a few more weeks of sun. I am not prepared for The Rains. Admittedly, lousy weather may help me be more productive at my various creative pursuits, though, because I won’t want to go outside.

Also, it’s time to revisit my evergreen post on the three seasons of fall.

Hooray for winter (December 2022 edition)

Today is the Winter Solstice, also the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight. So it gets better from here. Summer, here we come!

But as I type this, there is a huge amount of snow on the ground, making a white Christmas a distinct possibility (rain is coming, but will probably be insufficient to wipe away this winter “wonder” land before then). It’s also -13C, which is a low temperature record. The high is going to be -7C. -7C!

So yes, it’s definitely winter. On the plus side, we’re only three months from spring, my second favorite season of the year. We hardly get any snow in spring!

Here again, is the cat on ice, deluxe version:

The three seasons of fall

A lot of people declare fall as their favorite season. I declare them selective in their seasonal fandom!

Here’s how I see fall. It’s not one season, it’s really three:

  • Early fall. From the fall equinox around September 20 to the first week or so of October. This is really just an extension of late summer. The days are getting shorter, but the weather can still be nice enough for shorts and t-shirts (in Metro Vancouver), trees, flowers and vegetation all still look fairly lush, though the first signs of the season changing are starting to appear.
  • Middle fall. The time from early October to Halloween, sometimes extending to the first week of November. It is clearly fall now–the days are getting noticeably shorter, the high temperatures are no longer summer-like, but trees look spectacular as the leaves begin changing color. Halloween is coming (a favorite holiday for many, not the least of whom are the candy manufacturers). This is the classic fall many people think of when they declare autumn their favorite time of year.
  • Late fall. Early November to the winter solstice around December 21. November starts to get cold and wet. It can snow. The days are now down to about two hours of daylight, or so it feels like. Did I mention the rain? The leaves are gone, the trees are stark and bare. Vegetation has withered and gone fallow. Everything is gray. When people go on about how wonderful fall is, they are not talking about the bitter cold monsoons of mid-December.

I also contend that winter is pretty much winter:

  • cold
  • wet
  • horrible

I may expand on this in…two months.

A haiku to fall

The season, not like falling down the stairs or something.

The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
Then everything dies

On the one hand, the last line is rather bleak. On the other, fall ends on December 20th and by then the sun sets at something like 3 p.m., it’s always cold and almost always raining, the trees are stripped naked and vegetation is all withered, dead or gone.

But lawns still look really lush and green.

All right, then.

The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
It sucks after that

More accurate now. But fine, here’s a “happy” version:

The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
Hot cocoa and gloves