It became fully appar­ent today that sea­sonal changes are upon us here in the Nation’s capital.

Signs that sum­mer is draw­ing to a close:

• School starts today, or so Channel 4 told me on the ellip­ti­cal this morn­ing. (Apparently—and sadly—that calls for more cops on the Metro.)
• Wearing a short-​​sleeve shirt meant my arms felt a bit of crisp­ness in the air this morning.
• The shindig I went to on Saturday was called a “late sum­mer gar­den party.”
• The jew­eler I walked by saw fit to hang this in the window:




It’s August, so nat­u­rally I expect winter-​​themed dec­o­ra­tions at all fine estab­lish­ments. (Perhaps the pro­pri­etor was try­ing to be ironic by hang­ing snowflakes in August. I’ll grant you that. But when goose­bumps rise on my arms because of the bite in the air, the irony doubles.)