A little neglect in this corner of the blogosphere, but James left a comment that prods me to write.

Indeed, the weather here has been by turns springlike and stormy. Coming off a few days of sun at the beginning of this week (which dried out Thanksgiving rain) we got our first big blow of the season last night. The wind whipped up in the early morning and howled for a few hours - not a big storm, but a taste of things to come.

I'm not much good at predicting how cold the winter will be, but two signs have pointed to this being harsher than usual. First the arbutus tress are covered in berries like I've never seen them before. Some of them are red, and you can't even see the leaves. Second, my friend Bruce Steele, a long time resident of these parts, tells me that when you can smell the pulp mills up Howe Sound, it's a sign that the cold air is coming down. The earlier you can smell them, the theory goes, the longer the winter. We caught our first whiff around September 25.

The rain from last night has stopped and the ground is littered with yellow fir needles. We're getting ready for another cozy Irish music session at The Snug tonight, so come an join us if you're on island.