The equinox dawns dull and gray, no great splashy dawn to mark the season change, no chance to note the path of the rising sun to my soul, to position a stone for it to balance on each year.

Yet within an hour the clouds first hint at the light pushing down above them, then slowly disseminate to reveal a powdery blue sky still rimmed with clouds over the mountains. But it’s enough clearing to color the bay an interesting greenish blue and the Strait a deeper blue blue. From my vantage point, few trees have turned yet, just a yellow tinge here and there. But I have seen the vine maples already red in the mountains and know that fall has painted higher altitudes.

Here rose hips have darkened to a bold orange, ferns have faded to ochre and are turning back into ground.