For the first time in I don't know how many weeks, we just had ~1" of precipitation (including ice and snow) in a week, which is MUCH closer to normal amounts. I'm going to keep the reading to be Mildly Dry, but it is getting harder to know with the end of the growing season. For sure, the ground is moist but NOT muddy. The basement is still on the dry side but I'm suspicious that will change this week.

After a night temperature dipping to 20°F, many leaves dropped on maples, oaks, and lilacs. The last leaf pick-up was Wednesday so in a weird twist, we lost about half of our leaf drop amount AFTER the village predicted-- which means later than normal. I would not have imagined that a drought-filled summer would mean that leaves stayed on the trees generally longer, but that's what happened.

The yard and garden are very quiet. Did see some worms in the past week. Leaf cover has put a brown blanket over the ground.

Winter resident birds have been more active at the birdfeeder and bird bath.  Some geese are still migrating.

Allergies have been low.

But the major circumstance now is the shortening days and dark nights. It's the breath before the plunge. The yard is clear. We've had a test run of snow. We are ready for winter now.