This week my station received 0.27 inches of rain, down from 0.81 inches last week. Over the past four weeks, my station has received 2.1 inches of rain.  Conditions are currently Mildly Dry, but rain is predicted for tonight. Many trees have lost most of their leaves, but we haven’t had a freeze yet, so many plants are still doing well. The ground seems wet in some areas, but dry in others. The soil in our community garden plot has big cracks in places. The grass is mostly green, but it doesn’t seem to be growing. Lawn mowers raise clouds of dust. Lake Michigan seems lower than before; some new beach is exposed. I’ve seen lots of ladybugs this week, but not many other insects. The squirrels are getting fat.