Asters

The rather warm start to October finally ended this week with a noteworthy cold front. There were reports of sleet/flurries yesterday in the Peoria area (I did not see them), making this the second earliest day in the season this has been observed in the area. The earliest date was September 25, 1942, described further at: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/notable-september-snowfalls.  The leaves are starting to turn but many have a ways to go.  I like seeing the purple and white aster flowers at this time of the year, some of the last flowers of the season.  Turns out we have a little aster plant growing wild in our flower bed.  Yesterday, Katie and I were near the Illinois River, so we took a short walk down by the docks.