An October feel in my neck of the woods

/ October 1, 2015

Yes, I thought on the last day of September as the temperature dropped while I was typing in my work chair/recliner in the living room of the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.

Now this feels like October. I didn’t flip the furnace switch to on. But I did shut the windows tight, and close the French door every time Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle wanted to be let out onto the back porch.

It looked the part, too.

Puddles toward the front.

Puddles toward the front.

Talk on the wide screen’s Today broadcast this morning reported Hurricane Joaquin’s dance off the East Coast, and what it could mean for our part of the world.

Tuesday’s weather grid in The Post-Standard listed highs of 57º F through Saturday, with lows of 45º.

Here, now, rain.

Drips toward the back.

Drips toward the back.

Water fell and pooled. After the heat of summer, yes, we need it. I was thankful that city crew handiwork done recently around a drain at the end of our block seemed to have accomplished its task of keeping leaves and debris from clogging the process. In the dozen years we’ve lived in the Little Bitty, my dear wife Karen and I have witnessed moments when water rushing down our hill had nowhere to go, turning that end of the street into an impromptu pond. Fishing not encouraged.

Nobody's out.

Nobody’s out.

But this made for a quiet Wednesday in Syracuse, N.Y., indeed.

Do you live in the area where Joaquin may wreak some havoc? Do you need to take precautions about flooding? Have you turned your furnace on yet, and if not, what temperature is usually your threshold?

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76 thoughts on “An October feel in my neck of the woods”

  1. Rain is not so unusual in these parts right through the year, but it is certainly turning colder, and we have had fog every day this week. Its not the weather, though, which I notice at this time of year… its the nights drawing in. Dark evenings and dark early mornings just send me into hibernation.

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  2. all i’ve got is a cool rain and chilly weather. not really hurricane-ish, but very fall, here. and – the furnace is on. volunteering at a run tomorrow at a city park, hope it goes up a few degrees )

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  5. I learned after Hurricane Sandy to let go of what I cannot control- what will happen will happen. I have food, I have lanterns, and I hope the forecast continues to say the storm is moving far east off the coast.

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  7. Looks just like home Bro Mark. went to my old dentist in Whitesville this morning and it was 56 F. with a chilly wind blowing. Not exactly something I would enjoy every day, but at least the clouds weren’t dripping while I was out. Stopped at one of my favorite stores on the way home — the Dollar Tree, where nothing costs more than $1. A lot of it looks like it is overpriced at that, but at least I finally got everything needed to finish decorating the place for fall season. Which means the season will change to winter by the time I wake up in the morning. Finally saw some pretty colors on the way out, the real colors of Autumn. You don’t get that in town, but that drive thru my past life, nice. Good memories out that way, but some bad ones too — this would be a busy season, harvesting, canning, freezing, cooking. Just takes that drive thru the old days scenery to remind me of what I loved and what I hated about country living.

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    • Harvest season. That was hard work, I can imagine, sis Angie, but a reason for all to honor and respect this season of fall, for sure. Hey, I’m glad you found your stuff at the Dollar Store and got to visit your pretty previous stomping ground.

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      • I’ll get to visit each week for a month bro Mark. Bruce doesn’t speed the process up when he works on my mouth. I’m one of his first patients, and my first words to him were “You hurt me and I’ll hurt you”, so we hit it off from the beginning. Gorgeous country out there, but I don’t miss the work part.

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  8. Brrrr it looks wet and cold there. Are you chilled to the bone? So tomorrow it will be 20c/68f here in Calgary. On Saturday we are expecting a high of 4c/40f and snow. David Spence, one of my fav meteorologists on CTV News Calgary said it something like this, “blah, blah nice day tomorrow, blah blah cold on Saturday with snow (cocks head, raises brow) Yes I said SNOW. (pauses for effect) Saturday we’ll have snow. There I said it again, SNOW.

    Is it just me, or does summer pass really fast, Mark? ❤
    Diana xo

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  12. what happened to summer? it only seems five minutes since you were posting photos of snow piling up in your garden. Not wanting to gloat but it is unseasonably warm, dry and sunny in the UK. A glorious start to autumn ( er, sorry, Fall). I hope it stays – off to my annual retreat to the glorious lakes in 4 weeks time.

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  14. Hi, we still have the AC on. Our skies have been filled with clouds for the last 4 days, but no sign of rain yet. I love rainy days – good for taking naps and drinking tea and eating things I shouldn’t eat.

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  15. Wow, your temps are already much cooler than ours. Yesterday was the first day I walked outside and then immediately went back in to put on warmer clothes! It did not feel like 71, lol!
    No flooding here right now. It’s flooded where my mother lives in Florida, but her property is okay. It does flood in these parts, but we live on the high side of the street. We worry more about tornadoes.

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  16. no heat on here for as long as possible – just extra blankets and jumpers when the cold arrives. So far this week no rain – just blue sky and a hint of autumn chill. I LOVE autumn. Your street looks lovely. A rainy day is for me an invitation to curl up with a cup of tea and a book. Can’t always do that of course!

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  18. We are getting a bit of a nip now during the nights and early mornings but it’s still getting fairly hot in the afternoons. Nowhere near heater weather, although after being spoiled by living in a warm climate, heater weather for me is probably a lot higher (temperature wise) than heater weather for you. Here’s hoping Joaquin is merciful to all paths in his way!

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  19. Still raining here, too. At least the tarp on the kitchen roof seems to be holding (knock on wood).

    BTW, if you and Karen get bored on Saturday and feel like making that 3-1/2 hour drive to Buffalo, I’ll be having a meet-and-great with the Grumpy Old Dude from Archon’s Den about 1:30 or so, at a restaurant in Amherst, NY. I’d love to meet you if you could join us. The only problem is, I understand all the hotels around here are booked because of something going on at UB – and I know doing the round trip in one day is tough for a lot of people. But if you’re the type of people who don’t mind doing a lot of driving in one day, maybe you could consider it? Send me an email if you’re interested, and I can give you details.

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  20. Arrrghhhhh! Don’t worry, Mark, I’m not losing it. There are things I enjoy about the rain, just as I enjoyed this post. However, October means other, more weather-challenged months are on the way.

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  21. Love those raindrops! It’s been cooler here in Ohio the last few days. For a while it was that annoying “cool in the morning but 90 degrees by 2pm”. I hate that. All I want to do is leave my windows open all day. And now I finally can. Or at least I could yesterday. Happy Fall, Mr. Bialczak!

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