Putting on the Brakes

October 2

October 6

October 14 in the morning 

October 14 in the afternoon 

     Looking at my backyard over the past two weeks, it’s hard to remember how warm it had been shortly before that. September was unseasonably warm around here as well as overly wet. The temperatures dropped from the 90s to freezing as though a drag-racer had hit the city limits.

This time of year, after we’ve had a killing frost and then the days become reminiscent of July again, is often called Indian Summer. The first written reference to “Indian summer” is recorded in “Letters From an American Farmer” in 1778 J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur and reads:

“Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer."

Though this refers to this particular time of year in mostly northern North American, many northern European countries had a name for it as well. In countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia, and Finland, they call this warm period of Autumn “old woman’s summer”. In Bulgaria, it is known as "gypsy summer" or "poor man's summer".

Even in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are flipped, they refer to the warm days just before the cooler weather begins as “little summer”.

Whatever you call it where ever you live, I have decided we went straight from Indian Summer to Indian Winter. And I’m afraid we are stuck with cool days and cold nights for at least six months.