It's been about 8+ years that I haven't lived in a place with real seasons, and by that I mostly mean a real winter (with snow), because let's face it, California might have four seasons (floods, fires, riots and earthquakes), but half aren't exactly Nature's.
The arrival of autumn came sort of as a surprise, mostly because the leaves suddenly changed colors. Here are a few pictures:
Before I knew it, the mountain next to the city had turned into a beautiful landscape of colors and shades. I regret not getting any pictures of that! For next year... And with it came a bout of cold and I had to start layering long sleeves with pullovers, sweaters, etc. Fall had indeed arrived.
One of the surprises of Hokkaido (or parts of it), is that it snows before winter. You might ask yourself, "How is that possible?" Well, I got my answer towards the end of October when biking back from school, I noticed a lot of bugs in the air. The more I biked, the denser they became! These white bugs, called 雪虫 (yukimushi), literally "snow bug," stick to everything, don't move a lot and are in over abundance! Thus the snow before winter, because they seriously look like snow storms! But no, the bugs' appearance simply announces the coming of winter.
