Here’s where it starts. The rain. It seems impossible when under the summer blanket of blue sky and brilliant sun to even imagine the day when it all turns grey and wet…and stays that way for a long, long time.

But first, the leaves turn. There are plenty of Canadian maples to turn once shady streets ablaze. The squashes and pumpkins appear at the green grocers and fallen chestnuts crush underfoot. Hockey is on everyone’s minds.

10th Street in Mount Pleasant

Because this is a walking city, one in which the inhabitants are undeterred by rain, hail or snow, umbrellas and rubber boots are everywhere. (In Portland, you see much less of those, because people generally drive longer distances than a few blocks.)

Today was a typical fall day: balmy morning, then rain, then heavier rain, followed by 90 km winds and hail, the sky drying and opening to let in patches of blue and sun, then suddenly it was dark.