Can you believe the Albert Lea Tigers take on the Waseca Bluejays in a football game next week? There&8217;s a cross-country meet Friday in Wells. Girls&8217; tennis played Tuesday.

Holy smokes! Prep sports are starting. We welcome the return of high school competition, and we hope the local teams do well.

But at the same time the return of sports makes it feel like summer is over.

Just because school starts up soon, we aren&8217;t going to let summer be over just yet. Technically, summer goes until Sept. 22. The first day of fall this year is Sept. 23. Let&8217;s savor all we can from the warm season. Autumn and winter surely will last long enough for everyone. This is Minnesota. There is plenty of cold season to go around.

That said, autumn really is the best weather of all in the Upper Midwest. The humidity goes away. The trees are beautiful. The harvest comes in. The sun shines but the air doesn&8217;t get too hot. It&8217;s sweatshirt weather, and everyone likes that.

OK, we change our minds. We are ready for autumn. It&8217;s just winter we are worried about. That&8217;s all.