Autumn

We have been in Buenos Aires just over two months. We arrived at the height of summer. Temperatures approached forty degrees and we saw the sun for over fourteen hours each day. The nights were hot and humid. It is now cooler, especially  in the evenings. The days are still hot enough; around twenty-five. Daylight hours have shortened; we now get just under thirteen hours of sun, and even though BA days are noticeably shorter, they are much better than the four hours, or less, of indirect sunlight we saw during our last few weeks in the Yukon just a few months ago.

Our street looks much the same as when we arrived, though there is a new crispness in the morning air and a dustiness to the sky. Some trees are shedding leaves, but not significantly, and we don't see much colour in the leaves. Still, it feels and smells like fall.

School started last week. Where once the school playgrounds were empty and the bells silent, they are full again. The distinctive orange school buses, in a variety of sizes and styles and called escolares, run throughout the city. It reminds me of the first few days after Labour Day in Canada.



Autumn: the shadows, the dusty fragrance, the early evenings; that time between summer and winter. When we return to Canada in a few weeks, we will have seen two autumns in six months. And we will enjoy yet another six months later.

California Dreaming

This could be a great candidate for Jeem's Used Car Emporium.

Note the license plate.

Note too how it is parked: not quite on the street, and not completely blocking 

the sidewalk either.

IKEA comes to La Boca

Walking through La Boca, the poorest neighbourhood in BA, one is startled to come upon the familiar colours of  IKEA. But there they are: the unmistakable yellow and blue of the iconic brand, here in Buenos Aires!






Yes, it appears IKEA has come to South America with a gigantic, multi-level operation. All 12,000 products from the company, the third largest consumer of wood on the planet, are showcased at this new facility. Apparently the building can handle over 40,000 customers at any given time.







The building has restaurants on every level serving up that funny tasting coffee and lots of those world famous meatballs. Efforts are now underway to meet minimum standards for the actual meat content in the meatballs, but that's another story mainly of interest in Europe.





On the right, an artist's image of the new IKEA uniforms to be worn by staff around the world. The new attire, again in the recognisable blue and yellow colours, will be rolled out this summer in the northern hemisphere.