Posted by: @courtenay

That means it'll start getting dark by about 4 pm, which I find exciting and atmospheric ... but most people who've grown up with it find it terribly dreary and won't stop moaning about it.

I love this! "Exciting and atmospheric", indeed. Here will be similar, with the night starting to settle in around 5 when we change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard time in a couple of weeks. The mornings will lighten for a bit, while the afternoons will be a fair bit shorter. More time for stargazing!

I must admit I find it a challenge to comprehend how many people moan about shorter days, when I live for these all summer. But each to his/her own. In summer, my body feels like it is dying; in Autumn and Winter, I came alive in a vibrant way!

This week, the temperatures are in mid-high teens Celsius (high 50s to mid 60s F), while today is only 11C / 51.8F, which is my kinda style. And the nighttimes, oooh, the nights are right around freezing, with risks of frost, until they warm up a bit on the weekend to 7C / mid 40sF. Tonight, in fact, it will be below freezing. At the coldest point there will be a slight wind chill of -5C / 23F. This will be great walking weather early tomorrow morning (6 - 7 am), under the night sky and into the early dawn.  

Sure hoping to view comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, possibly tonight, although clouds could dominate, but there is a higher chance tomorrow evening, when the skies should be clearer. 

The trees continue to turn, although our backyard maples have not even started yet. They turn a brilliant yellow when peaked; one almost has to put on sunglasses to look at them on a bright day! It is like they are shining with an inner floodlight. But the colours all around our pastoral area—greens, yellows, reds, oranges, rusts—are gorgeous. We have not nearly reached our peak yet. Sometimes the peak is at our Canadian Thanksgiving (this past weekend), but other years not until later October. This year will be the latter.