The first snow appeared on the tops of the Brittania Range mountains last week. This photo was from October 19, when a chilly overnight rain at our elevation resulted in the first high level dusting of the fall.

Returning to Snug Cove last evening, the October sunlight filtering through a lemon sky.

As you may have heard, Mount St. Helens is erupting again. It's a long way from here, in southern Washington State, but back in 1980 when the mountain well and truly did her thing, there was some ash that fell in these parts. That was in the spring when southerly winds are not so prevalent. This time of year, it's not unusual for the wind to come out of the south, so hopefully, when the mountain does blow, we're not in the throws of a Pineapple Express or it will be ash, wind and rain we'll have to contend with.



Follow all the action through the new earthquakes link at the left.

For those of you new to the island, or just visiting, or contemplating a move here, take heed of the most important information you will ever need to know: ferry line-up etiquette

1. parking in the ferry line lane and leaving your car there over a ferry loading time is a no no. In fact, using the ferry marshalling lane as a parking spot between ferries can be dodgy. Getting back to your car (or truck) after the vehicles have unloaded from the ferry is pushing it. Driving around a driverless vehicle is OK if the line in front of that car (truck) is moving to load
   
   
2. parking on the faint painted cross hatch lines is also a no no
   
   
3. leaving gaps between your vehicle and the buggy in front is not to be done
   
   
4. filling in gaps when there are no vehicles in the ferry lane west of the crossroads seems to be OK
   
   
5. when irritated because you just missed the ferry (for any reason) try to think of an aphorism that Ed Sanders would quote
   
   
6. letting lineup rage overcome you, even when you’re totally in the right, will eventually put you in an early grave. Just get in your vehicle, close all the windows and scream.
   
   
7. try to understand that the ferry is what makes this place the place it is. A bridge would make it just another Richmond.
   
   
8. it is not appropriate to assume that catching this ferry is more important to you than it is to anyone else in line.
   
   
9. try to give in and go get a coffee when the lineup is dangerously getting past the school
   
   
10. always carry reading material.
    
    
11. do not idle your engine in th eline up and don't start your engine until the car in front of you has started theirs (and even then, make sure it's just for loading). Bring blankets or a close friend to keep warm in the winter. And never start your engine when the footpassengers are waiting to get off in Snug Cove. There is nothing more unpleasant than standing in a cloud of carbon monoxide in the pouring rain waiting for the ferry to berth.

The last one is a bit of a rant, I admit, by hey, it's my blog! So That is the current state of collected wisdom on the subject. Ignore it at your peril!



Note: Post updated October 2 with the last two points

Another stunning day.



The leaves are turning now. Not as spectacular a display as I grew up with in Ontario, but they mark the seasons nonetheless. It's the Big-leaf Maples that are putting on the real show at the moment, as their huge leaves turn yellow and stand out in stark contrast to the evergreen shades of Douglas-fir and Western Red-cedar.



More alarming though is what seems to be happening to the Western Red-cedars. Many of these trees, especially along Miller Road and in Crippen Park are changing colour. Substantial numbers of their leaves are going yellow, curiously, only on the inside of the branch closest to the trunk. The leaves at the end of the branches are green, but the pattern seems to be that along each minor branch, several sprigs close to the trunk are yellowed and dried up.



I've never seen this before, and my instinct is that it's the result of the last few years of stress on the trees from the soils drying out. Cedars like moist conditions, scarce in the droughts of the past three summers. It seems like the trees are focusing their energy on growth and on the leaves at the edges where the light is, sacrificing the shadier branches which perhaps don't produce as much food for the tree.



What do you think is happening?

Ahhhh. Back to what we normally expect in Spetmeber. Clear skies, no wind, morning fog. It's lovely. The trough of low pressure that has given us the wettest September on record has dissolved and it's nothing but high pressure systems languishing here on the south coast.



You can see from this weather map that the nearest trough of lows is lying just east of Kamchatka at the moment. That should give us days and days and days of fair weather.



The orb weavers are starting to come out of hiding now, covering a stand of Japanese Knotweed along Miller Road and appearing in their usual haunts under eaves. My friend Will Husby, and entomologist, tells me that they probably did suffer a population decline from the heavy rains.



I'm off for a walk in the woods now. Enjoying it while we can.

It's official. It's been the wettest September on record, and we're only two thirds of the way through. We've already had double the average precipitation.



All that was forgotten today though. Coming across tonight on the ferry from Vancouver Island, the sea was a little sloppy but the sky was clear blue, turning a million shades of orange with a fat crescent moon hugging the horizon just over the Malahat Mountains.