Has autumn come to your area??

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

Has autumn come to your area??

We are in the 4 distinct season zone of the eastern US. I recall preparing our Airbnb last year on Oct 17. We went in in the early evening and it was 75 degrees after a 80 degree day. We had the windows open. Over the course of the few hours we were there, the temperature dropped to 55 degrees and suddenly autumn had come! This year, we had some 40 degree nights over the weekend and actually had guests using the fireplace at our cottage. Autumn has arrived way ahead of schedule!

 

Has autumn come to you? Do you do any seasonal changes for your space? We start putting out pumpkins and change our fresh flowers to more "fall" colors instead of the bright pinks and purples we use in the summer. This also begins our dreaded "burn season" where every guest has a fire and I do nothing but explain how to build one or open the flue....

 

20 Replies 20
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Laura2592 

It was 31 degrees here last night. The leaves are starting to change, especially up north. I've swapped out most comforters for the down feather blankets. But I haven't gotten a chance to get the pumpkins, apple cider, etc. yet. This time of year makes me cringe because everyone is blasting the heat when it really isn't necessary. My windows are still wide open and we won't turn our heat on until well into October. 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Laura2592 I've been out walking (with my German neighbour in my LTR next door)  on the lower Lake District hills the last 3 days in shorts & T shirt.. The sun was warm (for NW England!), warmer than much of July/August, but the bracken on the hillsides is dying off & has turned from green to brown. The wind is developing a chill! The trees are still largely green, but the leaves show signs of drying up. I've needed about an hour's central heating in the evening these last two weeks, especially when I've got guests in! - Just to be sure! - And half an hour for when they are getting up! (Tho' with the summer we've had, I had to succumb to a LITTLE evening heating in June/July/August.... that is a 'first'  in 25 years of living in the North!)

@Helen350  no leaf changes here yet-- just that chill in the air that tells you summer is over. I personally love autumn-- it is the season of my birthday, after all. But sadly not until mid-November when the leaves are mostly dead and its grey and rainy all the time. 

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

@Laura2592  "This also begins our dreaded "burn season" where every guest has a fire and I do nothing but explain how to build one or open the flue...." Ugh, yes.

 

Well on the way into fall here, but still experiencing lovely summer like weather. We have guests who are just completing a two week stay who had specifically requested we open up the fireplace early for them. They've gone through so much wood I can't stand it. I had said yes, thinking gosh it's so warm here, there is no way they will actually have fires every evening. I was wrong, so wrong. 

 

 

 

@Colleen253  yes...one of our favorite returning guests wanted to use the fireplace this past weekend. Normally we don't open until October but it was quite chilly at night so I relented. Immediately came the "is it supposed to be smoky"? "No. You probably need to open the flue...see the instructions in the book and these helpful pictures." (and to myself "You have done this before....") 

 

 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

After having to evacuate our home and, unlike so many others, being fortunate enough to be able to return (nearby Riverside fire now 20% contained), and heavy smoke oppressing the entire west coast for days, we are beyond eager for our fall and winter rains to set in.

Oh, Lisa, my heart goes out to you, this has been such a terrible time, in every way possible. I'm visualizing soft grey curtains sweeping down and gently soaking the hurting land and letting the healing begin. XO

Although many people who have never been to Mexico assume it's just always warm and sunny, that's not true at all (there are many different elevations and climates within this large country), and while the seasons are less distinct, at latitude 20, I'm still quite far from the equator, so the length of days and nights do change throughout the year. In late Oct, early November, the rainy season will be over and the weather will start to cool down. Nights can be quite chilly in Jan./Feb. And it often won't rain at all, or almost never from Nov.-June. 

 

So we are either dealing with rain, mud and a proliferation of insects in the summer or dust and dryness in the winter. Fall and spring here are less distinct, but  there are many plants which only flower in the spring, just like up north, as it has to do with the number of hours of daylight, rather than the temperature.

 

@Lisa723  I wish I could send you some rain- we're in the middle of rainy season here and it rained so hard the other night I could hear big boulders tumbling down the rushing river which is 40 meters from my house, which woke me up at 3AM (I'm on high enough ground that I don't have to worry about getting flooded). It's actually an arroyo, as opposed to a river, so it goes dry in the winter and even after a big storm like the one the other night, when it overflows its banks, it recedes as soon as the rain stops.

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

Well,  just saw two deer getting romantic in the back yard..haha. Normally that happens in October around here. Autumn, you are too early. 

Our obnoxious urban deer are also at it, they often have 2 ruts a year, forage is lush in the suburbs & there's a crop of babies along with the randy bucks. I keep a hoe by the gate to keep them respectful. They can be quite aggressive but not with me!

Ahhh @Laura2592 , 2020 at it again! 

@Laura2592 

Korea also has very distinct 4 seasons - no leaves changing color yet...... but early mornings and nights have been quite chilly. 

 

Chuseok holidays begin next week 😁 😁 😁

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuseok

 

 

Gregory87
Level 10
Minneapolis, MN

@Laura2592 

 

Today is officially fall, but we've been vacillating between summer and fall temperatures for the last week to 10 days; some days in the 70s and others in the 50s and 60s with frost warnings at night.  It has been a challenge to plan for guests.  We haven't taken out the a/c units yet, but it was cold enough to require heat at times.  Tomorrow the forecast is for temperatures in the 80s.  This weekend we're expected to drop to the 60s again. 

 

Leaves are starting to change (more so up north) and neighbors are setting up their Halloween displays.  We may put up some fall decor soon.  Blankets and space heater are ready for deployment.

 

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Laura2592 

Laura, It's new rebirth here, spring is in the air. In the last week the glory vine has developed a thick coverage of new leaves, the Wisteria is looking fantastic with it's purple foliage, we had a 30c day in the last week and it feels like we have left what was for us a bitterly cold winter behind.

I am setting up the garden for summer, we have plenty of bookings coming in......BRING IT ON....I say!

 

 

Cheers.......Rob