The difference a day makes. In that my perception is that there is a notable difference from one day to the next at this point in mid-fall where the transformation is in such full swing that the difference can be noticed visually day-by-day. More pine needles have fallen to cushion the trails. And there is an increasing amount of foliage joining the pine needles.

The forest floor is increasingly absent the green bracken that crowds it familiarly throughout the mid- to late-summer months, as the soil absorbs plants whose presence has notably diminished to the point of vanishing.

Autumn is seriously engaged in the task that nature has prepared it for.

We had two perfectly wonderful, mild sunny fall days last Friday and the following Saturday, enabling us to fully enjoy this hiatus between fall and winter. And for me to get started on the big job of wrapping up the gardens in preparation for the entry of winter.  And then, on Sunday, although the forecast was for some rain, the weather turned into an all-day rain event. That rain and the winds that accompanied the rain convinced the forest that it had better be more serious about shedding the season, and it heeded that advice.

So today when I entered the ravine with our two little dogs I could see and smell and appreciate the acceleration of the changeover. There is more colour, to be sure, and some trees have succeeded in shedding their foliage, while others have barely budged, but in time all will join the mass shedding and the forest will take on its spare, bare, monochromatic appearance heralding the entry of winter.