After a long, hot summer (the warmest on record in the Caribou, Maine area), we’ve now had two mornings in a row with temperatures in the high 20’s. It will warm up again and we’ll be swimming comfortably for a few more weeks, but the colder weather is coming. A few years ago in the Northwoods Sporting Journal, Squapan (the railroad junction two miles away) was listed as having the shortest growing season in Maine, with only 77 frost-free nights per year. That’s 288 nights per year with a frost.

To start week 4 of the fall semester I’m wearing long pants, long sleeves, a tuque and a wool vest, sipping on a hot cup of coffee and watching my breath and it feels glorious. Bring on the cold.