September went by very quickly partly because the increased traveling schedule from last month continued.

First I went on a five day field trip to northeast England - Debryshire to be more exact. I flew into Manchester and for the next few days we moved around the country, staying in quaint old hotels in little towns which used to be popular spa resorts around the turn of the century. (Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) These days, of course, everybody in search of better weather simply flies to Spain and so we did not have to contend with big tourist crowds. I was a little worried about the weather, spending whole days in the field in a country known for abundant precipitation conjured all kinds of unattractive scenarios in my mind. So before leaving Houston, I bought a complete rubber rain suit. Luckily I did not have to use it at all, we had an unusual run of luck, no rain for the entire week. I learned something about the British weather prediction though. Every morning the news showed a map of England full of little sun symbols. I assumed that meant clear skies all day but later I learned that all the little sun mark really meant was that sun was going to show up for at least 10 minutes sometimes during the day.

The next trip was to Montreal, first visit after about 6 years. Interestingly the city continues to flourish and is quickly turning into a much nicer tourist destination than it used to be. The old part of Montreal is almost completely rehabilitated. If I did not know that in a month it is going to become quite cold and covered with snow, it would be a nice place to live. But as it is I prefer the subtropical climate of Houston. Yesterday we drove down to the beach, possibly the last trip of the season. Water was still warm but not as nice as it can be at the end of August. We did go for a swim but during future trips we will probably confine ourselves to wading through shallow water.

The feeling in Houston is already autumnal. The oak tree is starting its 6 month long process of dropping leaves, even though the gum tree in front is still completely green. Temperatures are around 25 degrees C and I enjoy eating breakfast outside and looking at our neighbor's banana tree against a backdrop of tall pines.


The seedling I planted on the vegetable plot in the mistaken belief that it was an eggplant turned into a bush size trumpet plant. I took a picture with it so that you can judge the size of the flower using my head for scale.








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