After a week of frosty mornings and the sense that winter was taking control, summer got off the mat and reclaimed mid Missouri today. Its victory may be brief but we'll enjoy a few days in the seventies before the next cold front pushes through the Heartland.
Any thought of raw, gray, November weather has vanished, as coeds stroll across campus in shorts and t-shirts. A steady, southerly wind has the flags rippling atop the ROTC building and has coaxed a trio of vultures into the air. If not for the long shadows and the fading colors of autumn, one might think it was early September.
Such gyrations in our Midwest weather are typical of autumn as a restless jet stream undulates across the country. While songbirds, attuned to the light cycle, are not fooled, the waterfowl will slow their migration until heavy snows and frozen ponds drive them south. As much as I look forward to those wavering flocks of snow geese, this mild interlude is a welcome setback. After all, in due course, winter will win the battle.
