Autumn has really settled in here in Sapporo. I’ve been eyeing up my snowshoes. First snows could be only a few weeks away. More likely around Christmas time, but one can always hope. In the meantime, we are stuck with consistent rain and temperatures hovering around 5 Celsius. In the early morning. If we do get a breakage of sun, it usually means a small aphid known as the 雪虫 (yukimushi, snow-bug, wooly aphid) makes an appearance.

Cute, right? Wrong… from October until the first snow, these tiny bugs float in the air, tiny cotton balls attached to their backs. They make your commute a living hell, as they stick to your clothes, embed in your hair, fly up nostrils, and craw in your ears. Often I arrive at work and have to debug myself in the bathroom. It makes commuting by bike next to impossible as you are smacked repeatedly by these little bluish/white fluff devils. Just one of the perks of living up here in the north of Japan!