It remains an offhand pastime for many of us to critique the weather, knowing that it is pointless to criticize it, for the weather is immune to the effects it has on the biology of its environment; nature completely oblivious to the manner in which her creatures are affected by her moods and tantrums. One such tantrum in the guise of a harrying wind allied with copious rain occurred several nights back, stretching into the daylight hours and we discovered anew when we ventured into the woods that mid-October is right on tap for its fall assignment.

In the woodlands of the ravine there is no wholesale change of colour to be seen at close range. Rather, one must look up, up and over to see the occasional red steeple-flags of maples turning, or look below them, at the forest floor to see the confetti of colour that has fallen under the influence of the chill atmosphere, shorter daylight hours, rain and wind events.

The sumac foliage has turned their usual bright crimson and for some reason they haven't produced a generous number of red 'horns' this year that name them staghorn sumac. And there's an extended copse of maples that hasn't yet begun to turn, but soon will. Their foliage turns a brilliant yellow, not the red of other maples in the ravine. The haws of the hawthorns are bright little spheres of red and most have already lost their leaves.

The hornbeam and the beech and the hackberry haven't yet begun turning, but the poplars have and the patterns of colour on some of the fallen foliage is fascinating, some with a staggered green trim on the leaf perimeter and bursts of yellow and orange on the body of the leaf. The birch are just beginning to turn bright yellow and they'll all soon be bare of foliage, while the understory dogwood and honeysuckle still await colour. The tender ferns have been dispatched, but not yet all the others, which predominate on the forest floor; much other bracken has turned pale yellow and appears to have 'dissolved' into the soil.

Yesterday it was windy and extremely cold during our walk. The temperature had plunged by mid-afternoon after an overcast sky with mild temperatures had transitioned to sunny skies and bitter cold. The cold certainly doesn't affect Jack and Jill; yesterday they ran free and frantic with speed chasing one another through the trails, with Jackie pirouetting and committing to fabulous leaps of joy.