The season has definitely shifted with suddenness and vengeance from summer to fall with the first hard frost last night. Many of the trees have not even changed color! Especially feeling it after a week in hot California temperatures.

Spent most of the day in the yard digging and rescuing plants.  Nanuq made her contributions as well in digging and chewing. This included pulling three tomato plants,  A tangled mixture of stems and blooms tied to the back railing.  ! placing in card board boxes. trimming my outdoor pots on front and back porches, eventually moving them indoors, digging a few carrots, repotting some including my basil herb  plant and a Christmas cactus, collecting some blooms for last bouquets in the house, raking spots in the yard, the crab apples are all over ( as is dog shit! )  I enjoyed cooking a stir fry from some fresh veggies, falling into bed for a nap around 6 PM and then covering plants in various areas of the yard with sheets and inverted pots.

This morning a layer of frost was very evident on the back railing, dog footprints on the porch as I think it dipped to minus 2 or 3oC. Love the pattern of the morning light on this bike wheel on the porch The forecast is rain and a fairly hard frost by next Monday so trying to hold on to any thing in the yard beyond that point is fruitless…love the pun!

Holding on and letting go interesting processes but that is what the changing seasons demand and that is the lessons or challenge as we try control our small corner of the world. Is it safety and predictability that we seek in doing so?

Affirmations for October include:

• Rooted, grounded you bloom
• Stretch into all you are becoming
• You can’t whitewash yourself by blackening others
• “ Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” Ephesians 4:32

These monthly affirmations were selected randomly and written at the beginning of the year and amazing how appropriate each seems to be.

Autumn signs in Alberta are frosty nights but in California it was ripening fruit and slight changes in the color of the leaves....much surprised to find ripening pomegranates. One of my walks was through the UC Davis arboretum in down town Davis. Spanned by a series of bridges, this park is dedicated to the different native species of redwoods and other conifers.   Shaded cool spots very welcome....look closely at this black bumble bee The ducks, of course, did not move much and this one was quite contented dozing on the creek.

It has been with much reluctance that I left these warmer climates of temps in the 90's F. Much enjoyed the backyard pool and moments in the sun but alas Monday was my final day. 

Last morning of my stay my wonderful hosts before taking off on their day of school and work!

Flew United leaving late afternoon Just outside of Sacramento on 30 minute flight, similar patterns to the prairies Red colored fields below ...possibly cranberries? Approaching San Francisco..overcast and foggy Deplaning in San Francisco, much cooler than Sacramento Had about an hour and a half in SF airport & caught a bite to eat in food court....last leg about 2 hours arriving midnight in Edmonton.