Last of the Leaves Again

My earlier post had iPhone photos only, as I forgot to pack the connecting cord for the Cannon. Here are a few photos I took November 4 near Ithaca, New York, walking or with the car stationary.

These are in the order they were taken.

Lake Cayuga

Lake Cayuga closer

Lakeside park

Again, Lake Cayuga is in the background.

Back yard 11-14-13

In Alaska it’s above freezing (rare for this time of year) and we had mixed rain and snow last night — enough that schools are closed again today, driving is extremely hazardous, and power is out rather spottily throughout the area. (Mine went out around 1 am and came on just before 7. ) My regular station is off the air — lacks power to broadcast, according to their e-mail  — and the ones I could get were intended to be music. I did manage to get a bit of news around 7 which was all I heard about school closing, the fact that many traffic lights were out, and the widespread local power outages. I’ll add an up to date shot of my yard with the current storm when it gets light enough to take a picture, just for contrast and “Why did I fly home?” The water content of the snowpack has actually increased a lot more than the relatively minor increase in depth would suggest, and the wind and the warm temperatures (it was actually above freezing when I took the picture) have pretty well removed the snow from the bushes.

North Pole Weather, 10/7/13

The sun will rise at 8:20 this morning and set 10 hours, 36 minutes later at 6:56 in the evening. Noon elevation no longer reaches 20°. It’s still generally above freezing in the daytime, sometimes as warm as 50°F, but it freezes most nights now. Once the winter snow cover is established, which at this time of year will probably be whenever we have three to four inches of snow on the ground, the temperature will stay below freezing around the clock.

I’m not sure what happened to the maple this year, but it certainly did not turn red.

The leaves have mostly turned color but a lot of them are still hanging on the trees. They look very dry, though, and I suspect most of them will be down at the first good wind. Enough have fallen to pile on the mints and perennials for insulation, and I hope those plants make it over the winter. I hope also that I’ll be able to get out earlier next spring than I did this year, and that my balance has recovered enough that I can work outdoors. This year I’ve had to hire people to do most of the work.

The second monitor I use for the internet died last week, and I just bought a new one Saturday. I just hope it fits on my desk, as it’s a good deal larger than the old one. Funny how electronics are one thing that seems so stay fairly constant in price while having all kind of larger sizes and new features.