October 2025

Digital painting of a twilight sky, dark blue-grey clouds split by a bright stripe of pale yellow. There is a slight pink hue tinting a few clouds, and a couple of birds flying.

October 2nd

We report: civil twilight, the sun is just beneath the horizon line. The cloud cover is precipitating nightfall, one drop of ink for the hour to turn blue. It is humid like it should be raining, like a word hanging on the tip of our tongue. We stay past nautical twilight.

October 1st

We report about this crumpled October sky: the light is coming out dim and yellow through the parallel wrinkles. The clouds are painstakingly ironing themselves out with windy strokes. This is one of many of our mornings when the waking up is still around to be done.

Digital painting of a bright blue sky, half of it covered with fibrous white clouds wrapped around one another, wispy on their edges.

October 4th

We report: in another place, the sky remains this blue most of the day. The clouds appear out of thin air, and fade back without causing much disruption, barely approaching the sun during their short-lived existences. The air is dry, even quite warm when we stand in the sunshine.

Digital painting of a sunset sky, fibrous clouds spread out in soft waves. There is bright orange and yellow glowing at the base of the clouds, and purple in the shadows.

October 3rd

We report while the wind rises: the clouds are getting stretched to the width of the sky, brass and gold from the stormy sunset. In the east, nothing remains of the light already, but the rain is moving in from there, slowly enough to let the day wane in peace.

Digital painting of a cumulonimbus, large storm cloud expanding outwards in a bright blue sky. Above and around it, small white clouds, and underneath, a dark curtain of rain. Where the rain falls, there is a small rainbow.

October 5th

We report as the storm is getting away: we did not stumble upon this rainbow by chance. We noticed the sudden onslaught of rain, and the way light was pouring down at the same time. The rainbow was exactly where we expected it to be; we had only thought it would be bigger.

Digital painting of a sunrise sky, a bright gradient of blue to yellow, with long clouds stretching out across the frame. Bright orange light is hitting their underside.

October 7th

We report as the tide comes in under the sunrise: there is more gold in the sun now that autumn is settling in. Dawn pours in one drop at a time, and remains there in the air for a long time. The moon is still in the sky, facing the sun in an age-old standoff.

Digital painting of an evening sky, lilac and purple, covered in shapeless, wispy clouds. The yellow full moon is sitting there, glowing slightly.

October 6th

We report: we stumble upon the full moon, and out of nowhere, we get a sense of scale for a fraction of a second. We get vertigo as we realise how big the moon is, and how far away it is. Then, a cloud floats in front of it, and the moon becomes a yellow circle in the sky again.

Digital painting of a sunset sky, a gradient of blue to orange with a variety of clouds spread over the whole frame. Long, flat, and dark grey in the lower third, bright, orange, squiggly lines in the middle, and grey and fuzzy at the top.

October 11th

We report on this mild October night: if the planes went somewhere nice, the sky forgot where exactly a while ago. The breeze has methodically swept over their paths again and again so that none of them make sense, and the contrails have become new kinds of clouds by now.

Digital painting of deep blue sky, half-covered in wispy silver clouds. There is bright iridescence coming up into the frame like flames, all shades of the rainbow, overshadowing the rest of the sky.

October 8th

We report: the sun leaks into the sky, and we find its echoes in the clouds for a long time after. We hear the hiss of high voltage arcing as we watch, and we wonder if some turning off and back on is in order. Some of the troubleshooting pages are missing from the manual.

Digital painting of a quiet grey sky, a featureless blur of shades of grey with long, smooth clouds creating ripples over the lower tier of the frame. A flock of black birds is flying in the distance.

October 9th

We report in unmoving dampness: the clouds are low, an opaque mass that has absorbed the entirety of the sky. With the clouds closer to the top of our head, we move around the world a little more gingerly, like we have a duty not to disturb the repose of the sky lake.

Digital painting of a dark, stormy sky. The clouds are churning in complicated patterns, blue grey at the top of the frame, slightly yellowish light coming through the bottom.

October 21st

We report as the wind seems intent on accelerating the fall of autumn leaves. We watch them swirl in small eddies. Our expert was looking at the patterns of atmospheric pressure earlier, and we heard them emit a low whistle at the counterclockwise spiral over our area.

October 10th

We report: the dregs of the evening pass us by, quiet, flat sound waves reverberating across the fields. Our expert dropped their keys as they took their hands out of their pockets, and we are now hunched over the ground with our torch lights, looking for a glint in the grass.

Digital painting of a blue sky framed by trees, dark foliage on the left-hand side, and the large yellow and green tree on the right-hand side, backlit by the sun.

October 12th

We report: late afternoon by autumn standards, the yellow sun meets yellow leaves. In some places, we see the colours change every day, but on certain trees, the transition seemingly happens overnight. We look up, wary of the numerous mast year chestnuts that fall all around us.

October 13th

We report here on these open flat lands: we have not felt wind like this in months, all push and no pull making us stumble over our own feet. The air is dry, not even very cold, all things considered; but the wind is stealing every word that comes out of our mouth.

Digital painting of an overcast sky, dark blue clouds in a pale sky. Dim morning light is coming through, washing up the edges of the clouds.

October 14th

We report: first light, then second, and third, and the morning is finally beginning to come into existence. There is a light drizzle, we think - we have not set foot outside yet. Leaning on the windowsill, we can smell damp, and other, less describable things of autumn.

Digital painting of a sunrise sky in pastel tones: the lower tier of the frame is a flat, opaque blue; the clear sky above is a light blue, with hints of pink and orange. The scattered clouds are a brighter orange and pink.

October 15th

We report in the kind of weather that is not demonstrably cold, but that is felt to be cold because of our state of tiredness. The sun is not yet where we think it should be, and we are not where we ought to be anymore (fast asleep, in our bed). We must do with the disconnect.

Digital painting of a purple flower field, with a few yellow and white flowers to the side. There are tall trees around the field, and phone lines running across. The sky is a bright blue, with a few long white clouds scattered there.

October 16th

We report: we come across a flower field, and in the mid-October light, it feels odd, a little out of place. There are bumblebees and wasps about, and the flowers are especially fragrant in the sunshine. The yellowing trees in the distance anchor us back in the season.

October 17th

We report as the afternoon is beginning to wither away: it was windy when we got here, and our face is still ruddy from it, our hair still out of sorts. Now, the sea is still, and the waves barely stir the pebbles on the shore. We hear the oystercatchers over the quiet.

Digital painting of an early night scene in the city: two buildings with some lights on, some lampposts, trees, some phone lines running across the frame. The sky is a dark blue, going on purple above the horizon, with a few stars here and there.

October 18th

We report: our train was running late enough that we thought we might as well walk. We watched the sky darken with the evergreen mid-autumn question of “when did nightfall start coming so soon?” on our mind. Little by little, while we were looking elsewhere, is the answer.

Digital painting of a sunset sky, a blurry mix of purple and grey covered in bright swathes of orange in the bottom right corner of the frame, curling and twisting in places.

October 19th

We report in the aftermath of a rainy day: we had been waiting for a good, long stretch of rain for many days. We watch it go a little too fast, we think. Now the sunset rings out on the glistening asphalt, wrung out clouds still dripping a little, shredded in the wind.

Digital painting of a vibrant blue sky filled with swirly, wispy cirrus, a long comma leaving trails and bits behind.

October 20th

We report: these clouds are so high up, we drive for miles and miles and are able to watch the wind braid them in the exact same spot in the sky. We call our expert at home, and they see the same clouds; we describe them several times over in different ways to make sure.

Digital painting of a clear night sky, sprinkled with many stars. There are treetops poking into the lower tier of the frame, lit from the side.

October 22nd

We report: during a secret few minutes, late at night (so late it is close to being early), the stars are out. We wonder whether we fell asleep, as it was raining a moment ago, and we know for certain it should be raining again very soon. We spend a long time looking for a cloud.

October 23rd

We report on the morning after the storm: we were woken up with hail showers in the night, and the south wind rattled the tiles on the roof in a way we had not heard before. It is still windy, but it is the kind of wind that chases clouds away instead of stirring up a tempest.

Digital painting of a bright blue sky, full of cirrus going into all directions, forming all sorts of different shapes. In the lower tier, the top of a yellowing tree appears.

October 24th

We report: the humidity and the wind are working together so that walking out felt like a cold shower. We sucked in a breath and went back in to get a scarf. The cirrus overhead had that perfectly incomprehensible, chaotic quality to them, unraveling and colliding at every turn.

Digital painting of a stormy sky: large, dark clouds looming and raining in thick curtains upon a small, pale blue corner of the sky.

October 25th

We report in deep October, standing between two storm cells. The clouds rain well, assiduous in the task, and we are well-rained upon, impressed with the efficiency of the whole apparatus. We longed for this in the summer, so we try to enjoy it to the height of our expectations.

Digital painting of a twilight sky, medium blue, with deep blue clouds coiled around a small waxing moon crescent.

October 26th

We report: the moon is in the sky again, only just dipping into the chilly night before it sets in a few hours. The clouds are spreading out along invisible patterns, like a flock of birds scouring the horizon. The air is redolent with damp wood, and the deep scent of the mire.

Digital painting of a dark sunset sky, long, heavy, black and dark grey clouds letting red and orange light bleed through the gaps.

October 27th

We report of a sunset that has been over-steeped, whatever sweet taste of it already drowned in the night. We take it, the way we try to take everything we can of the sky. Our expert talks about atmospheric refraction, and the fact that the sun has long set already.

Digital painting of a seaside landscape, quiet water under a partly cloudy sky. The sun is half-hidden by long clouds, shining down the ocean in a single, bright ray of light.

October 28th

We report: a well of light dances on the water far away. The wind unhurriedly moves the clouds, and the patterns of the shade are predictable. Our expert stirs us towards the sunshine, and we immediately feel the heat high on our cheeks. The seabirds flee on our approach.

Digital painting of a grey, cloudy sky, filled with a large murmuration composed of two parts joining in the middle. The clouds in the background are slightly wavy, bluish at the bottom of the frame.

October 29th

We report: amidst the fluttering of thousands of wings, we spot some kind of vulture circling the murmuration. Every time it attempts a strike, the cloud of birds dissipates, and immediately, smoothly finds its shape again. Eventually, after a long time, it seems to get tired.

Digital painting a dark night scene, bare autumn trees detaching against a dark blue, opaque sky. Out of frame, dim yellow light catches the foreground in contrast with the rest of the scene.

October 30th

We report: the night came faster for the thick cover of the clouds, and even faster for the looming trees above us. In search of the way back, we looked for familiar landmarks, but only found glowing eyes in the deepening shadows. The wind washed out all the sounds of the night.

October 31st

We report in the wake of the hundredth shower of this day. We almost slipped on wet, dead leaves earlier, and we are now very busy watching our feet, lingering adrenaline tickling our fingers. Even then, we stop to look up every few steps, hungry for the dying light.

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September 2025