October 29, 1999

     Indian Summer

Minnesota summers are short, but even shorter are our Indian summers, which last perhaps a day or as long as a week.  An Indian summer day is one with an above-normal temperature and little or no wind.  Those sunny days always follow autumn's first frost and occur when high pressure dominates.

The origin of the phrase is as hazy as the days themselves.  Some sources say it was born in New England and referred to the period when Indians made their final preparations for winter.  Others suggest the weather pattern was more pronounced in Indian-occupied lands than in those occupied mostly by early Europeans.  There might be some truth to that observation.  Indians often burned grassy areas in late fall to flush out game for one final hunt before winter.  The burning grass would give the still autumn air its extra-hazy appearance.

Indian summer is rare, and that's why people relish it.  Golfers and bikers, picnickers and hikers get out in numbers.  The added lure of autumn colors brings photographers and painters out.  In addition, banded woolly bears and leopard frogs cross roads and paths, garter snakes and painted turtles sun themselves, honey bees visit the remaining aster and chrysanthemum flowers, and several species of butterflies go on the wing.