Fall in St. John's

One of the nice things about living in the country was watching the progression of seasons. All cities on the other hand, seem to have the same progression; one day it is summer and the next it isn't. Those in between stages seem to happen without much fanfare. St. John's is no different than any other city I have lived in, in this way. We have one tree in our back yard. It is a pin cherry, Prunus pennsylvanica for those of you who care. When we moved here in early August, it had green and lush leaves on the last foot of each branch but the rest of the leaves were skeletonized from an earlier infestation of what the neighbours called 'worms'. Over the next month it recovered and grew some new leaves where the first ones were damaged. September came and went and there was no change to the tree or the distant view of Pippy Park beyond. Thanksgiving came and went too, still no change to the tree, but a little fall colour began to show in the distance. 'Out beyond the overpass' as they call it here. Then about a week ago we finally got a hard frost that affected our neighbourhood. In two days our lush green Pin Cherry went the clear yellow of a Post It note.
St. John's weather so far has been a lot like Vancouver. Grey, overcast, and light rain most days. The difference between here and there is that St John's also gets wind. In Vancouver, wind was such an anomaly that it was remarkable. Really, as in "Wow, it's windy today" if there was more than a hint of gentle breeze in the air. In St. John's it is remarkable when there isn't a wind. So for a day and a half, our Pin Cherry was yellow, and now it is bare from the constant buffet of the gale they call a breeze. Poof, that was fall in St. John's, all 6 days of it.
And here is a little strange but true fact of weather in St, John's: if it is above 3 degrees Celsius then the neighbours are sure to remark "Beautiful day, isn't it?"
If it is sunny but the wind cuts through you like a knife its "Lovely day..."
If it is overcast and raining like a Bible story, but warmer than usual its "Nice day...'
If the wind is still but the fog reaches from the harbour to 'out beyond the overpass' it's "Gorgeous weather...it's enough to kill ya."
These are actually the words that our neighbour used today to describe a dull windy morning with intermittent showers. I can only surmise that the important factor is the temperature, which admittedly at 12 degrees C is higher than seasonal.
The funny thing is that I find myself doing it too.