Here in Upstate New York, summer is officially over. A proven fact, given that I've closed the living room windows and pulled down the storms as well.

KC, while excited, has yet to come to the realization, that after tomorrow, school will be back in session. Summer days of riding bikes, running about the yard and jumping in the pool, will be traded for warm jackets, crisp leaves and snow laden clouds lingering overhead.

The last blooms of summer will slowly fade in the backyard garden, awaiting the deep freeze that promises soon to come, as the air fills with the sound of geese, returning to their winter homes away from home.

Inside the house is cozy warm, filled with the sweet fragrance of homemade apple pies baking in the oven, while upstairs we trade out our closets to hang our winter wear in place of summers gear.

Outside, neighbors will be tending to their last minute chores, racing against the clock to finish long before the first snow has a chance to fall. Inside, mothers will be telling their children the story of the grasshopper and the ant, so that they too will understand the sense of urgency that permeates throughout the air.

Old man winter whistles overhead to remind Mother Nature, that the season has come for the time of change, and so with some reluctance, summer gives way to fall and then the fall to the winter, that comes after.