Something else I found on my way to the mailbox

**Red-belly snake (*Storeria occipitomaculata*) sunning itself in my driveway.**

Yesterday was warm, humid, and a little sunny. It was nice, especially after last week when our evening temperatures went below freezing. Some of the little animals that live here must have felt the same way. In one of the tire tracks in my drive was this tiny red-bellied snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) sunning itself on the warm gravel.

Red-bellied snakes are harmless, non-venomous, and eat small insects. They’re rather docile and don’t seem to get too upset when handled. I often find them in mounds of old hay and leaves where the decomposing plant matter generates heat.

The Minnesota DNR has a webpage on red-bellied snakes here.

Missing the colors of mushrooms in the fall

This has been an exceptionally warm and dry summer and fall, affecting everything in the forests, fields, and wetlands. Fall colors have been rather drab this year. Wetlands are drying up. Many trees began dropping their leaves in August.

September and October are times when the forests are full of colorful fungi. I always look forward to going out and looking for mushrooms. But this year mushrooms of any kind are far and few between. A few puffballs have popped up, and some Amanitas tried to grow before succumbing to the heat.

This slideshow showcases some of the colorful fungi that should be here, but for lack of rain, are not.

It got cold last night

Summer is over

A jade plant I started from a cutting two years ago. In the winter, it lives under grow lights, but in the summer, it enjoys the fresh air and the rays of the sun. Tomorrow, it will have to come back indoors along with the *Echevarria*, *Sansevieria*, *Tradescantia*, and the epiphytic *Zygocactus*, *Hatiora*, and *Rhipsalidopsis* cactus.

We’ve had exceptionally warm weather for the last week, and even before that, the temperatures were just plain nice. But Sunday is the last day of temperatures in the 70s and 80’s. Yesterday it was 90 degrees in the shade. Tomorrow it will cool down to the 60s, and there is a chance of frost for three nights in a row.

After Monday, I will probably have to cut them down and store the tubers for the winter. The same is true for the tuberous begonias and the gladiolus. And all the houseplants I set out for their summer vacation will need to be brought back in.

A stalled high-pressure system is bringing the warm weather. Winds are from the south and gusting to 30 mph. The warm weather, while enjoyable and welcome so late in the year, is bringing problems to the already dry forests and fields. Even the wetlands are dry. Very dry.