"Indian Summer" Comes to an End

View from our deck at sunrise this morning as clouds move in

We have enjoyed a week of warm temperatures, clear skies, misty mornings and brilliant late fall colour. This weather pattern was called Indian summer throughout my lifetime, but the word "Indian" as a description of North American indigenous people is no longer used so I am uncertain what to call this week. But I have spent as much time as possible outdoors.

Indian summer is a brief period of mild summer-like weather that occurs after the first frost. Winds are calm, days are sunny and nights are cool as high pressure dominates the atmosphere. It appears in North America and Europe and is called various names, including gypsy summer, poor man's summer, old woman's summer, little autumn of the geese, pastrami summer or by an assortment of saints' names whose days are celebrated in autumn. I saw a news article today about the lovely Indian summer in Great Britain this week, so I suppose the expression is not censored. There are many songs, books, poems and paintings that use the term "Indian Summer" as a title or in their content.

The sun moves along a lower arc as the earth tilts away from the sun in our hemisphere. The contrasting sunlight and shadow of mid-autumn through late winter is a photographer's friend.

The trail I use for my commute to work is brilliant with yellow and gold colours from Silver Maple, Sugar Maple, Beech, Oak and Black Walnut trees. I ride to work in the dark now, but I often stop on the way home to admire the view. I particularly like the stand of Silver Maple trees with multiple co-dominant trunks and bright yellow foliage.

Our city has planted many Autumn Blaze Maple trees in parks and on boulevards. They are a hybrid cross of Red Maple and Silver Maple. The leaves of this fast-growing tree turn bright red later than the native Red Maple. 

Clouds moved in this morning and a cold front brought wind and rain that brought down many more leaves during the day. We had a little snow before this warm week but more will be on the way soon. I have no complaints after this exceptional autumn.

Morning mist at sunrise yesterday