In the midwest we have a joke—if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute (or hour or day…). After sweating and a bit uncomfortable on Wednesday (with highs that approached 90), this morning I woke shivering because I like fresh air and generally keep a window open. It’s now in the low 50s, close to a 40° temperature drop in two days. The steady drizzle doesn’t help much.

I was forced to turn on the heat.

My wardrobe has swapped. Gone are the shorts and sandals, now delegated to the bottom drawer or the back of the closet. In are SmartWool socks (if you’ve never tried them they are worth every penny), long pants and gasp, sweaters.

Naturally, we will still see some decent weather before the snow flies, a so-called “Indian summer,” which generally happens after the first frost (anywhere between mid-October through mid-November).

So stoke the furnace folks, summer is officially over.