Lunar eclipse

October 7. The weather continues unseasonably warm, delaying the onset on fall colour. Today it is 24°C (75°F). Yet the air bears the inimitable smell of autumn leaves. The green earthy smell of maples predominates in the park. Along Lilac Way it is the resinous smell of trembling aspen. A tiny, unfamiliar snake zigzags across the warm gravel path, writhing madly when picked up. Back on the ground it darts quickly away, but when the camera clicks, it stops suddenly, turns its head to look, and tastes the air with its dark tongue. Perhaps it thought it heard an insect. It is a brown snake, Storeria dekayi. They are born live in late summer, and judging by its length (less than 15 cm/6 in) this one is probably newborn. Although the maples are slow to change, the meadow is vibrant with the burgundy of staghorn sumac. Milkweed pods are just beginning to crack and shed their white parachutes.

October 21. The weather is still mild and several large flocks of birds are moving along the river. Song sparrows move shyly and quietly ahead like guiding spirits. Cedar waxwings whistled from tree to tree, while a large tribe of robins quarreled beside the pond. This was a day for unusual sightings. A large painted turtle plopped off the driftwood branch at the Snake Bend. Walking back upstream, I came upon a pied-billed grebe offshore from the grassy marsh. It sat on the surface only a moment before diving, then never reappeared. Other birds observed included mallards, blue jays, starlings, black-capped chickadee and a hairy woodpecker. Bright leaves have not yet fallen from the maples. Elsewhere, the riverbanks remain green with buckthorn thickets and meadows of asters.

October 27. This evening my younger daughter and I witnessed the total lunar eclipse. The sky has been steadily overcast for many days, but it cleared beautifully just as the eclipse was beginning. We drove to the edge of town, parking at the far end of Victoria Road bridge and climbing the drumlin above Lilac Way. From there we had an awesome panoramic nighttime view of the city below, and the Turfgrass Institute to the south. We watched the earth's shadow gradually overwhelm the full moon. The leading edge was grey, but a reddish-brown smudge moved up from the bottom. The last fingernail of pearly sunlight held on for a few long minutes before the whole moon fell into shadow. Then it took on a deep orange hue, like a Halloween pumpkin. We also took the