The Environment Canada forecast is informing us of the continuation of this late summer/early fall heat wave. Today will be a scorcher, with 32 degrees expected to heat up the atmosphere. But we're also expecting afternoon showers and evening rain, so that should help moderate the temperature.

Because it is destined to be so hot we decided we'd take an earlier-than-usual meander in the ravine. By the time we left the house the clouds that had tamped the temperature to a reasonable level had dissipated and the sun was crowning the dome of a perfectly blue sky. There's some humidity, and little wind, but as soon as we dipped down the trailhead into the ravine there was immediate relief from the burgeoning heat.

Coolness prevailed, soothing our heated skin and you could almost believe the forecasters were wrong. This may represent the final hurrah for summer of 2016 as far as the heated atmosphere goes, on a prolonged basis.

Squirrels have been busy at the oak trees, biting off small branches to fall to the ground to better enable them, we can imagine, to gather acorns. Jackie and Jillie were more than a little intrigued by the odours they picked up sniffing about at the foliage on the forest floor. They're at the point where they exhibit curiosity at the presence of squirrels, with Jackie enjoying a short mad spurt after the squirrels who seem to enjoy the exercise as much as he does, leaping up tree trunks, and whisking their tails in jaunty mock-up of his spontaneous efforts to tree them.

New fungal specimens pop up out of the rich humus of the forest floor. And there are still ample wildflower specimens to brighten the landscape and render the pleasure of nature's artistic design all the more acutely.