Signs That Summer Is Over

There's little doubt remaining that the cool nights and frosty mornings of autumn are inching their way closer. True, it's been hotter and more humid than recent memory hints at, but believe me, it's closer to fall than you think. Here are some things I've noticed recently which have led me to this conclusion.

1. Neighborhood kids. After spending all summer squirrelled away in their rooms with Play Station, they've realized that they have little time left outside...thus, they have been cruising the neighborhood in gangs on their bikes like there's a Stones concert in Altamont. Herds of them have been out this week so I know they're feeling the walls closing in.

2. Lists abound. Every time I open a newspaper or surf the 'net, I find lists: The Cool Things Your Grade Schooler Needs For School (including a computer for homework and an iPod for bus travel!)...Top Ten "Must-Haves" For Any College Freshman...Top Ten Party Schools in the Country (West Virginia this year and NO Wisconsin school in the top ten)...Top Sober Schools In the Country(BYU, as one might imagine, gains this honor for the 10th consecutive time)... Five Ways To Make Sure Your Child Is Ready For School (including "practicing" getting up on time).

3. Kids are bored. Face it. When the top fun time summer activity for the summer becomes driving through a drive-thru, ordering a drink, yelling "fire in the hole" and throwing the drink back through the drive-thru window (I am not making this up), it's time to get back to school. Whatever happened to mailbox baseball? Maybe that's just for country kids.

4. I get a haircut. It's true...every year at this time, I get a haircut, even if I like it the way it is. It's just TIME TO DO IT! No idea whether I look better or worse though there is much less grey in it when it's short. It's like geese flying south or north, depending on the season, or bears hibernating: there comes a time when things happen by instinct.
I got it cut today ( or, as people in Wisconsin say, "I got THEM cut today." )