Cleveland is getting our first snow of the season. It began in the wee hours of the morning, when rain turned to snow, and everything was white by 6 am. I hope it wasn't icy and worried about my sister driving to work(she's a nurse) if the changing weather was affecting the roads. By 9 am, much of the snow had melted, except for the edges of lawns and roofs. But it's been intermittently snowing through the day and some of it is starting to cover the ground again.
This fall has been one of the warmest I can remember. Just this past Monday, I was out in a t-shirt, not even needing a jacket. The leaves have clung to the trees longer than usual too, some trees still nearly intact with their bright colored leaves. There are some years where all of the leaves turn and disappear in a week or two, so it's been great to savor the colors this year. There's a couple maple trees in front of my apartment building that are still mostly green. Of course, now with the colder temps, perhaps that will hurry them through the process or even cut it short? I don't know how much temperature affects foliage colors. From what I understand, it's mostly the amount of sunlight that influences the green chlorophyll to fade and the fall colors to appear. I really need to learn more about how that process works.
But even if I don't know all of the technical details, it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the sights of the seasons in all of their glory.

Two weeks ago today, I went to three different pet shops to try to find a female guinea pig. Females have fewer heath problems as they get older, because of biological differences. The last shop I went to, an independent pet store with a great reputation, had only males, but told me that not all males developed impactions and it was entirely possible that my next pet wouldn't. There was a brown one who put his paws up on the cage wires like Dora used to do. That seemed to be a sign. They let me cuddle him for awhile, which is a great sales technique, and he was very mellow and affectionate. So I took the plunge and bought him home.
Since I'd been planning on a female, I didn't have any boy names selected. But after setting him up in his new home, I watched him for awhile and a couple suggested themselves to me. Then I went to the grocery store to get him veggies and decided on one of them while I was shopping. I named him Rollo, because on one side of his face, he has a little mustache which makes him look dashing and Rollo sounds like a very European and adventurous name.

My sister saw him the next day and pointed out how his coloration is very similar to a collie, from certain angles, he also reminds me of a squirrel or rabbit. He's a bit more skittish here at home than he was at the pet shop, which worries me that I might be doing something wrong to make him nervous. But he's gradually trusting me more all the time. I'm looking forward to when he feels completely comfortable and settled in.