It is now after all, autumn. And typical of autumn -- though anything but rare this peculiar past summer -- we had a full night of rain. We could hear it in the eavestroughs running busily off the roof through the night. And it was little surprise when we awoke in the morning to a dark day with unrelenting rain. Not that we mind, really. But it did look as though the rain meant to continue throughout the course of the day. And that we would mind, upsetting anticipation of our quotidian walk through the forest.

And then nature changed her mind, expelled the dark clouds from the sky and invited blue to take the place of the clouds, the sun illuminating a very wet landscape. With a bit of wind and lots of sun the garden began to dry out a bit, and out we went to the ravine for our usual hike.

The creek was rippling heavily, coursing over the rocks that line the creekbed in places, and roaring its rain-swollen presence as we descended into the ravine. The forest was drenched-green and luminous thanks to sunrays penetrating the forest canopy. We should have expected that this would signal perfect conditions for fungi. Despite which when we came across luxuriant colonies of mushrooms here and there feasting on rotting fallen trunks, it was a surprise, in a sense.

Each of those incidents in discovering little caches of fungi introduce us to new shapes, colours and textures. Most of them deserving of a photograph. And so I don't disappoint them, take my time and snap a picture; a process made so easy with my trusty little camera.

There are easily more hover flies around than there are bees, though bees are themselves not in short supply this time of year, swooping in on the multitudes of asters and still-blooming Pilotweed plants. A photograph of the large, bright fall asters that are our favourites among all the various types, with a hoverfly or a bee busy gathering pollen is an irresistible attraction for me and my camera.

Jackie and Jillie meandered about here and there as they tend to do. Usually Jillie in the lead and Jackie preferring to hang closer around us, until something moves in the distance sending them both, but Jackie in particular, leap-frogging through the underbrush of the forest interior. Until the object of the chase decides it's had enough fun for the time being and does a disappearing act up a tree.

Jackie finally understands this to be the case, whereas in the past he would just be at a standstill at the 'disappearance', looking about in a puzzled manner, trying to figure out where the squirrel had gone. Now he knows, and looks up the tree trunk, to see those saucy little squirrels waving their tails jerkily back and forth, a signal they have, as usual won the race.