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Teresa Denniston caught the contrail of a jet (see upper left corner) in the early morning sky. The Gualala River and the lights of houses on the bluffs are basking in the soft golden glow.

A beautiful photo of a beautiful place! Thanks to Teresa for allowing me to share it with you here.

Big windy storm overnight. The day before brought .66 inches of rain, and last night 1.55 inches at Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay. Total season to date is 6.96 inches. I'm wondering if the Gualala River will breach the sandbar today. I checked this morning but it was still closed.

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It was sunset on Oct. 17th that Eric Zetterholm photographed the setting sun. His reward was a rare photo of a double green flash.

Eric went out two days later to see if he could do it again, but a pesky gull flew across his view at the crucial moment.

With the time change, the sun will be setting around 5:30 or so beginning with today's sunset. Will you be watching?

Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

It's been a beautiful day on the Mendonoma coast today. Slight breeze, temps in the low 70's. We especially enjoyed it knowing there is rain in the forecast!

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We've had enough rain for mushrooms to appear. Boletus edulis, King Boletes, are up, causing many people to have a smile on their faces! A delicious edible, we usually hope to see them in time for Thanksgiving. Early rains are a blessing in more ways than one. Alex Kun was one of the happy foragers. His neighbor Natasha Lynn took this photo.

Alex went out a few days later with his daughter and found all these beautiful boletes!

We received 1.27 of rain over last weekend, bringing the total to date 4.75 inches. Many other mushrooms are up too, including Chanterelles and Coccora, plus Oyster mushrooms. Gifts from the forest!

Thanks to Natasha and Alex for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's been so lovely the past two days. No wind, warm temps during the day, and sightings of Humpback Whales. I saw two small groups late Monday, yesterday, while talking on the phone with a friend.

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One storm was moving out before sunset last night, leaving us with this beautiful sight.

The last storm for a while moved in today and we have received a solid inch of the wet stuff, and it's raining as I write this. Mushrooms are appearing as if by magic. And it's such a blessing to have early rains.

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Heather Crownover had a visit from two tiny owls. She wrote, “We recently have had close-up visits from Northern pygmy-owls, one of only a handful of diurnal owls.  In the first picture, you can see one owl looking straight at me, while the other is just below and tucked away within the branches of the tree.

In the second picture, the lower owl has taken flight.  The third picture was a different encounter where the owl seemed as interested in me as I was with him. I could not choose which picture to send of this small, but fierce, impressive bird.”

I love these little owls - they have false eyes on the back of their heads, a nice gift from Mother Nature. I was on KGUA FM radio last week, talking about this owl sighting. Peggy Berryhill asked me what diurnal meant. And I flubbed it! It means "of the day."

Thanks to Heather for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

It's been very cloudy and cool today. Rain is predicted for Friday.